Calvert Trying to Protect Access Road to Solomons

Calvert's Board of County Commissioners is telling state highway planners that it supports a new Gov. Thomas Johnson Bridge between Calvert and St. Mary's counties but opposes blocking the service road to Solomons Island.

Some of the alternatives on the 4.5-mile-project that also covers the St. Mary's interchange of routes 4 and 235 include pushing northbound traffic from the bridge to the first light in Solomons and closing off access to the service road, which runs parallel to Route 2/4.

"You can't eliminate traffic on and off the island to make traffic on Route 4 better," said Commissioner Gerald W. Clark (R-Lusby). "If you fool with any of them connections . . . you'll have a bottleneck that we fought for years to fix."

Russ Anderson, the Maryland State Highway Administration's Thomas Johnson Bridge project manager, said that he and his staff are trying to avoid unnecessary changes in how drivers get through the roads that will be affected by the work. The problem with access to the service road, he said, is that the ramps from the new bridge would be too steep, so the ramps must drop traffic farther north.

"Keep in mind our small businesses there. They are our lifeblood," said Commissioner Barbara A. Stinnett (D-At Large).

The highway administration is conducting an economic analysis of the area that would be affected by any of the proposed bridge alternatives. The agency agreed to meet with the Solomons Civic Association before it has larger public hearings on the location and design of the new bridge. The hearings are expected to follow completion of the federal approval process in the spring. Design approval from the state is expected the following winter.

St. Mary's County Shifts Savings

St. Mary's County commissioners have agreed to roll more than $2 million in savings from deferred projects and other areas into other areas of this year's budget. The county did not use $6.5 million in bonding authority for the deferred projects, saving $500,000 in debt payments.

The county has lower revenue than expected from developers' fees, so the finance staff suggested making up the difference with some of the savings on debt payments and excess funding in transfer taxes.

The board's action to realign the various funding sources with 32 planned projects helps put the county in a better financial picture for when it sells bonds in the future, said Elaine M. Kramer, the county's chief financial officer.

Commissioner Daniel H. Raley (D-Great Mills) complimented the county staff for paying attention to the details and said that this type of board action results in "good, clean audits . . . saves the county money and assures the citizens . . . that we know where the money is and we know how we are spending it."

Oyster Restoration Work Continues

The Patuxent River Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association Maryland has completed the final phase of its first oyster restoration project by transferring more than 31,000 adult-size oysters to a sanctuary on Hellen Creek in Calvert County.