Chesapeake Bay Bridge
Coordinates: 38 ° 59 ′ 30 ″ N , 76 ° 22 ′ 20 ″ W.
| Chesapeake Bay Bridge | ||
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| use |
US Highway  , US Highway (5 lanes)
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| Crossing of | Chesapeake Bay | |
| place | Anne Arundel County and Queen Anne's Counties in Maryland | |
| Entertained by | Maryland Transportation Authority | |
| construction | Suspension bridge | |
| overall length | 6946 m | |
| Longest span | 488 m | |
| vehicles per day | 74,500 | |
| building-costs | $ 45 million (1952) $ 148 million (1973) |
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| start of building | 1949 May 19th 1969 |
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| opening | July 30, 1952 June 28, 1973 |
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| toll | $ 4.00 ($ 2.50 with E-ZPass ) | |
| location | ||
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The Chesapeake Bay Bridge , officially Gov. William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge , is a structure consisting of two suspension bridges over Chesapeake Bay in the US state of Maryland . It is named after the former Maryland Governor William Preston Lane , during whose tenure the construction of the bridge began. The first bridge was opened in July 1952, from 1969 due to increasing traffic the construction of a parallel second bridge, which was completed in June 1973. In 2017, around 27.2 million vehicles passed through the bridge.
geography
The bridge connects the western and eastern parts of Maryland, which are almost completely separated from each other by the Chesapeake Bay . The almost seven kilometer long structure connects the area around Annapolis with Kent Island , the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay, which is off the Delmarva Peninsula . US Highways 50 and 301 cross the bridge . The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is one of the longest bridges over water .
history
The construction of a bridge over the Chesapeake Bay was examined from the 1880s. In 1908 the construction of a connection between what is now Baltimore and Tolchester Beach was proposed for the first time , which was to be privately financed and served by a trolleybus line. From 1919 plans came up that also included a rail link. In the same year a regular ferry service between Annapolis and Claiborne across the bay was set up due to the increasing volume of traffic . A journey took about two hours at a distance of about 37 kilometers. The ferry was later moved further south and took thirty minutes.
In 1927, a group of Baltimore businessmen were allowed to raise funds to finance a bridge across the bay. However, as a result of Black Thursday 1929 and the subsequent Great Depression , planning came to a halt again. Another attempt in 1938, when the State of Maryland had already approved the construction of the bridge, failed because of the start of the Second World War .
After the war, planning was resumed under Governor William Preston Lane . In contrast to all previous proposals, the decision was made to cross the route further south between Sandy Point and Matapeake because of the easier route.
The first groundbreaking took place in 1949, after about three and a half years the bridge was opened on July 30, 1952. On November 9, 1967, the bridge was officially named after William Preston Lane, who died that year.
In the 1960s, the two-lane bridge reached the limits of its capacity, which is why it was decided to build a second bridge. In addition to two other proposals, it was finally decided to build a second bridge just 150 meters north, which was approved on May 28, 1968. Construction of the three-lane bridge began a year later on May 19, 1969, and was opened on June 28, 1973.
From 1986 to 1988 the older, more southerly bridge was renewed, whereby it had to be completely closed in the winter months. From 2006 the newer bridge was also subjected to renovation.
The construction of a third bridge, the cost of which is estimated at up to 7 billion US dollars , is being discussed.
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The two bridges have a total of five lanes, two of them on the older south bridge, completed in 1952, and three on the north bridge, completed in 1973. Usually, traffic is directed east on the two-lane southern bridge and west on the three-lane northern bridge. The third lane on the north bridge is switched between east and west operation as required. Both bridges are designed to accommodate traffic in both directions if the other bridge is closed.
Tolls were levied in both directions until 1989, after which the toll to the east was doubled, while driving to the west was made toll-free in order to ensure smoother traffic due to the elimination of some toll stations. A trip east by car costs today (as of 2019) 4 US dollars, with the E-ZPass 2.50 US dollars.
Effects
The construction of the bridges contributed significantly to the development of the geographically isolated Eastern Shore on the Delmarva Peninsula , the eastern part of Maryland. It cut the time to cross the bay from 30 to six minutes. In 1951, the last year before the bridge opened, the ferry recorded 2,494 vehicles per day. After the bridge opened in 1953, 5,295 vehicles were counted daily crossing the bridge; in 2015 it was over 70,000. The city of Ocean City in the east of the peninsula, which has developed into a popular vacation spot and is home to most of Maryland's residents in the summer after Baltimore, benefited in particular .
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Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jason Babcock: Bridge was once proposed from Calvert , Maryland Independent, September 7, 2016, accessed on February 27, 2019.
- ↑ a b c Jeremy Cox: Chesapeake Bay Bridge at 65: What if it had never been built? on delmarvanow.com, July 31, 2017, accessed February 27, 2019.
- ↑ William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial (Bay) Bridge (US 50/301) on the state website of the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA), accessed February 27, 2019.
- ↑ a b Chesapeake Bay Bridge (William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge) on dcroads.net, accessed on February 27, 2019 (English).
- ↑ David Healey: Third Chesapeake Bay bridge would have lasting impact , The Baltimore Sun , February 10, 2018, accessed February 27, 2019.
- ↑ Jo-Ann Armao: WESTBOUND BAY BRIDGE TOLL ENDING , The Washington Post , February 1, 1989, accessed February 27, 2019.
- ^ Toll Rates on the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) state website, accessed February 27, 2019.
- ↑ Ryan Basen: Ocean City Police, Town, Businesses Cooperate for Crowd Control at cnsmaryland.org, April 28, 2005, accessed February 27, 2019.