McKay and Hale Vote Against Transportation Study
Crashes along the Rt. 4, Rt. 5/235 and Rt. 301 corridors are a daily occurrence while all three regional bridges over the Potomac and the Patuxent are single lanes in each direction. A 1998 study of the railroad right-of-way to Lexington Park recommended immediate steps to be taken to preserve the ROW for future commuter rail use. This photo shows one of many wrecks which have taken place at Clarkes Landing Road and Rt. 235 in Hollywood. ST. MARY’S TODAY photo.


By Kenneth C. Rossignol
ST. MARY’S TODAY

HUGHESVILLE --- The Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland met on Wednesday night and Del. John Bohanan (D. Lexington Park) requested that the council support the override of the veto of Gov. Bobby Ehrlich of the bill which was sponsored by Senator Roy Dyson (D. St. Mary's, Calvert, Charles) and was passed by an overwhelming vote in the General Assembly.
The only votes against the position requested by Bohanan came from Calvert Commissioner President David Hale (R. Owings), St. Mary's Commissioner President Tommy McKay (R. Hollywood) and Del. Danny Mayor (R. La Plata). Otherwise the vote was carried by a large margin.
The bill calls for the first comprehensive transportation study of highways, bus, rail and water transportation including bridges, to ever be simultaneously conducted for all of Southern Maryland.
The Ehrlich Administration position is that the various reports conducted in a haphazard fashion by different agencies, who didn't consult with one another, suffice for legislators and policy makers to know what and how to plan for the immediate future of transportation of the gridlocked Southern Maryland area.
Dyson's bill was co-sponsored by Sen. Thomas "Mac' Middleton of Charles County and Sen. Mike Miller of PG, Calvert. The override vote is one of the first items of business to be taken up by the General Assembly next month.
The Ehrlich Administration recently seized more than a mile of the railroad right of way which runs from Hughesville to Lexington Park for construction of the Hughesville bypass, a highway project conceived in the sixties and finally funded last year. The bypass could have been avoided and the road simply widened on it’s present course.
Dyson has proposed that the state build a second span over the Patuxent River next to the troubled bridge at Solomon’s Island. The Ehrlich Administration opposed this additional span while at the same time supporting the construction of a third nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs. A second span would not only help with the daily miles-long traffic back up each morning and evening but provide an emergency evacuation route for nuclear emergencies or hurricanes.
Dyson has also proposed that commuter rail service by MARC over the existing CSX tracks to Morgantown and Aquasco be evaluated and the GOP Ehrlich Administration has opposed this action as well. The commuter rail use of CSX tracks is supported by Congressman Steny Hoyer (D. Md. 5th) and Del. John Bohanan.
Calvert commissioners and delegates have supported the transportation legislation offered by Sen. Dyson until the last two years when Del. Tony O’Donnell (R. Lusby) attempted to kill the Dyson bills in the House before voting for them. The sudden about face on the part of the Republicans on supporting commuter rail for Southern Maryland comes only after McKay decided to challenge Dyson for the state senate.