Hogan vetoes Nice Bridge funding bill

Southern Maryland delegation vows to search for solutions

The Gov. Harry Nice Memorial Bridge is essential to life in Southern Maryland. It’s a connector, not only between counties, but between states.

The bridge spans the Potomac from Newburg in Charles County to Dahlgren, Va. But the bridge

has aged. After being erected in 1940, there have been repairs made on the bridge but Southern Maryland legislators say economics, public safety and commerce are all at stake if the bridge is not replaced.

However, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) disagrees.

Hogan vetoed Senate Bill 907, which mandated a $75 million annual payment from the Maryland Transportation Authority into a fund for the bridge’s replacement starting in fiscal year 2018. In a letter to Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Charles, Calvert, Prince George’s), Hogan called the bill “unnecessary” and said it “intrudes on the Maryland Transportation Authority’s statutory independence.”

Del. Sally Jameson (D-Charles) said the General Assembly was not overstepping its boundaries with SB 907. The delegation and the general assembly was just trying to solve a problem that has not been well-tended to, she said.

The money is there in the transportation authority’s budget, Jameson said, to fund the bridge’s replacement. But “everything is so obstinate,” she said, the General Assembly had to put together a bill to make sure things were done “in a timely manner.”

“We’ve already spent $53 million on the process. When you’re doing a project of that size, when you put it on hold all of your studies and background information becomes outdated,” Jameson said. “It would be a tragedy if we lost all the momentum up to this point.”

Both Jameson and Del. Edith Patterson (D-Charles) said the bridge is used for collaboration between the military base in Indian Head and the base in Dahlgren. The economic development aspect is also important, Patterson said, with commerce traveling across the bridge in both directions.

Not replacing the bridge is “dangling with potential disaster,” Patterson said.

“The bridge is 75 years old. It is in dire need for replacement. Not repairing it, that’s a waste of money,” she said. “I don’t see the rationale. To take it off as a priority is shortsighted.”

Patterson said the General Assembly’s purpose is to oversee public safety and they “absolutely did not” overstep its boundaries. The bridge’s decaying infrastructure is a public safety matter and something needs to be done before there is a tragic situation, she said.

A veto override would have to go through the General Assembly, Patterson said. It would take a full nine months before the veto override could even take effect.

Charles County Commissioner Ken Robinson (D) said people are “tired of waiting” on the new bridge’s construction. The bridge is essential, not only to Charles County, but for the entire state.

The bridge is part of an evacuation route, Robinson said, so if something were to happen people would rely on that area being a safe exit. But, instead, it’s still a two lane bottleneck that could be prone to congestion, he said.

“I was actually surprised the governor vetoed the bill,” he said. “This bridge is so long overdue for replacement. And people are going to suffer because of it.”

Jameson said it is important the Southern Maryland delegation and the General Assembly are doing everything in their power to get a replacement bridge. She said she does not know if there will be another bill similar to this one or even a veto override, but legislators will continue to explore their options.

“It’s going to need the people of Charles County and Southern Maryland and the state to understand the importance of the bridge and voice those opinions,” Jameson said.

The delegation may have found something in a gaming bill they proposed this year but that bill was struck down because MGM’s casino at the National Harbor is still under construction, Jameson said. Once that is complete, the state will be ready to look at another potential gaming facility. There could be bridge funding opportunities there.

“We’ll just have to see if that’s an acceptable means,” she said.

There are federal opportunities for funding, but Jameson said Hogan’s veto does not look good in the eyes of Congress. It is not easy to get funding from Congress, she said, when jurisdictions are not working on the same page.

Robinson said he does not know what the delegation can do, but hopes that they do come up with a solution suitable to everyone’s tastes.

“I thought this was an adequate long-term plan to fund this new bridge,” Robinson said. “This is very frustrating in that the only crossing south of the [Woodrow] Wilson bridge over the Potomac is extremely obsolete.”