Seasonal traffic jams will continue

Bay Bridge No. 1 opened in 1952, jolting the Eastern Shore into the 20th Century. Cambridge was desegregated (good), tract housing chewed up Kent Island (bad), and Ocean City boomed (ugly). At the bridge, seasonal traffic jams blossomed. (“Maryland must strike a balance on Chesapeake Bay Bridge,” May 4.)

Though voters in a statewide referendum in 1966 nixed a second span (289,418 votes against; 248,942 for), Gov. Millard Tawes ignored it, and under Gov. Spiro Agnew, Bridge No. 2 opened in 1973. Seasonal traffic jams continued.

With Gov. Hogan pressing for parallel bridge No. 3, the Queen Anne’s County commissioners would scrap spans Nos. 1 and 2 for an eight-lane monster. In 20-30 years, expect vastly wider approach roads from I-97 to Route 404, not to mention a wider Kent Narrows Bridge. Seasonal traffic jams will continue.