I have introduced legislation for the past two General Assembly Sessions that would address an ever-growing problem that doesn’t seem to cease in Southern Maryland: traffic.
Wherever you go in Southern Maryland, there are traffic problems. Gridlock is everywhere. My proposed legislation, Senate Bill 281, would set up a commission to study Southern Maryland’s Transportation Needs. My bill is co-sponsored by all three of Southern Maryland’s Senators: Thomas McLain “Mac” Middleton of Charles County and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller who represents Calvert and Prince George’s County.
For some strange reason, the administration does not support this common sense legislation. They don’t support this bill, but don’t give an adequate reason why. At the recent bill hearing in the Senate Finance Committee (which passed the bill out by a bi-partisan, 11-0 vote), the State Highway Administration argued that Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties are not in Southern Maryland. That’s a technical argument that doesn’t sail well especially with one of the bill’s co-sponsor -- Senator Miller. Senator Miller has always maintained that Prince George’s County is Southern Maryland.
The bill’s other co-sponsor, Senator Middleton, also chafed at the State Highway Administration saying that Prince George’s needs to be included on the Commission for several reasons citing the need for a Waldorf bypass, light rail and the consistently horrible, sometimes fatal traffic problems in Brandywine.
As for Anne Arundel County, each day during the General Assembly Session, I drive back and forth from my home in Great Mills to Annapolis. This takes me from St. Mary’s through Calvert into Anne Arundel, which is most definitely all rural until I get near Annapolis. Just the other day, two incidents reminded me how important my bill is. As I am wont to do every day, I listen to the traffic report on WTOP radio.
The reporter, Lisa Baden, noted that there were “not one, two, but three accidents in Brandywine.” Soon after on Route 2, I ran into a HAZMAT accident. The only direction I got from the police on the scene were officers pointing for me to go some place I had no idea I had gone before.
Clearly, these two almost simultaneous accidents in Prince George’s and Anne Arundel County show why they should be included on the task force.
This legislation will show a strong commitment to constituents, not to mention the upcoming Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission that the General Assembly is making a substantive effort to address the significant traffic problems we have in Southern Maryland. It calls for 19 members including a member of the Maryland Senate and House of Delegates, Department of Transportation, the board of county commissioners or county councils from Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s County among other important officials and departments that deal with transportation issues. Among these issues is reviewing mass transit as well as traffic congestion on U.S. Route 301, Maryland Routes 2/4, 5, 210, 228, 235 and 260.
This is an excellent and important bill that must be passed and I encourage the administration to show their support for easing our congestion in Southern Maryland instead of opposing it.
While the administration fights my bill, the governor has recently announced a Task Force on Traffic Capacity Across the Chesapeake Bay. In other words, whether we need another Bay Bridge Crossing and where. There has been much talk about putting this bridge in Calvert County. This is a terrible idea that would clog up our roads already. I am hoping that two representatives he has put on the task force from Calvert County, Delegate Anthony J. O’ Donnell and Commissioner Susan Shaw will fight against any talk of a new Bay Bridge crossing in Calvert County.
I have introduced legislation for the past two General Assembly Sessions that would address an ever-growing problem that doesn’t seem to cease in Southern Maryland: traffic.