By Kenneth C. Rossignol

ST. MARY’S TODAY

GREAT MILLS — Not satisfied with the progress being made by the Maryland Department of Transportation at coordinating the untangling of the massive traffic congestion snarling the Southern Maryland region, Sen. Roy Dyson said on Thursday that he will sponsor legislation mandating what should be an obvious solution; use the existing the CSX tracks in Southern Maryland for commuter rail, just as takes place every day in the rest of the state.

"We got our transportation study commission in place and we have seen some reports and officials visiting the area and right away we have ridiculous talk about examining the Rt. 5 corridor from Waldorf to Clinton for a right of way to connect Waldorf to Metro," said Sen. Dyson. "That option is no option at all and all it does it take valuable time and money away from the possible while holding out hope for the impossible. We will never be able to afford the bill for that option, not with the current fiscal crisis we are in and the state of the economy. I have never seen the time when the state or federal government would fund a potential $3 billion project like that, why not do what is affordable?"

"We can, however, work with CSX to add commuter trains to the existing rail lines, they want double tracking and at least the right-of-way is in place and using the rail system in place gives us a chance to link our region with the rest of the state," said Sen. Dyson.

CSX has rail lines which extend from the two power plants in Charles County, one at the Potomac River at Morgantown and the other at Chalk Point on the Patuxent River.

"We can add locomotives and passenger cars, we can work with the railroad to make improvements to accommodate passenger service and we can work to get a lot of vehicles off the road, save on gasoline, save on emissions from traffic and save on a lot of people’s nerves," said Sen. Dyson.

Dyson pointed to the rail line right-of-way which extends from the CSX line at Gallant Green to Lexington Park as an easy way to further extend rail service to the region.

"They never sent light rail to Glen Burnie because they didn’t have a right-of-way, there from Baltimore and couldn’t afford to buy it," said Dyson. "We still have our right-of-way 95 percent intact and we had a feasibility study conducted by the Department of Transportation 7 years ago which called for this valuable asset to be protected from further encroachments and easements and I am concerned that the recommendations of the feasibility study be followed."

"We need to set priorities and concentrate on the possible," said Dyson.

Del. John Bohanan (D. Lexington Park) said that he would talk to Secretary Porcari about speeding up the timetable but was reluctant to sponsor a bill similar to Dyson’s in the House.

"We need to propose bills which will pass," said Bohanan. Bohanan, while preferring to work behind the scenes with the DOT officials, has taken a leadership role House of Delegates in the past in passing other bills on transportation which were sponsored by Dyson.

Dyson’s efforts to pass a Transportation Study took 3 years to get through but passed, with a veto override by the General Assembly. Dyson’s feasibility study for preserving the U.S. Navy railroad right of way for future commuter use passed the General Assembly despite the opposition of the Secretary of Transportation in the Glendening Administration.

Bohanan, who is also senior assistant to Congressman Steny Hoyer (D. Md. 5th) attended a meeting in 2003 with CSX officials in Washington at which time the railroad laid out two major requirements for permitting Maryland Marc train service on it’s Southern Maryland line. CSX said that indemnification from lawsuits resulting from rail service crashes, such as took place at Kensington in Montgomery County in 1998 along with the state paying for double-tracking were prerequisites for service.

Dyson’s other chief priority for Southern Maryland is the Governor Thomas Johnson Bridge.

A spokeswoman for the Maryland DOT confirmed on Friday that despite the closing of the bridge for three months in 1988 that there is still no contingency plan in the event the bridge closes again for repairs. SHA spokeswoman Erin Henson said that the alternative route for commuters who use the Governor Thomas Johnson bridge remains the Benedict Rt. 231 Bridge, a detour for those traveling to work at Pax River of about 1 ½ hours each way, if there are no wrecks on the roadways.

Dyson has pushed for a new second span over the Patuxent River and sponsored a bill for two years in a row requiring the state Department of Transportation to proceed immediately to build a new bridge.

The bill was opposed by the Ehrlich Administration, which suddenly about a month before last year’s election, reversed itself and announced support for the new bridge.

A series of public meetings will be held next month at the Town Creek Elementary School, on Oct. 9th from 5 pm to 8 pm. and at Dowell Elementary on Oct. 2nd from 5 to 8 pm to review possible designs of the Rt. 4 corridor from Rt. 235 to Solomon’s including a new bridge.