Eastern Shore Land Conservancy poll shows strong support for new bay bridge
Salisbury, Md. – A new poll commissioned by the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy finds 63 percent of likely Midshore voters support building a new Chesapeake Bay Bridge, stating that a new bridge could improve traffic flow and safety.
However, officials said there is also another strong message. 95% of respondents said plans should also prioritize farmland and open space protection with 85% of residents in the counties most affected support creating a dedicated land-conservation fund.
“Certainly the bridges are old and getting older. The price of maintaining them is substantial. And the reason that ESLC, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy did the poll was to confirm that there is strong support for a new bay bridge,” ESLC President and CEO Steve Kline said. “But even stronger support … for conserving the Eastern Shore’s open space, farmland, forests and, you know, what makes this place feel so special.”
Kline said a new bridge would provide safe shoulders to get disabled vehicles off the travel lanes and “would end the two-way traffic on the westbound bridge that many motorists find troubling.”
“But like the bridges before it, a new bridge could also inaugurate a new era of sprawl development along Routes 50, 301, and 404, extending deep into the Eastern Shore heartland,” he said in a statement released by the ESLC. “If we want to keep what we love about the Shore, a new Bay Bridge must include meaningful investment in land conservation.”
ESLC Land Use and Policy Manager Carol Bean said while there is an increase in large infrastructure plans and project proposals on the Eastern Shore, like roads, solar installations and transmission lines and data centers, “this poll shows Eastern Shore residents expect those proposed projects to start paying to offset enormous land use impacts that come with construction.”
“The new Bay Bridge will literally pave the way for further infrastructure,” Bean said. “Now is the time to commit to a meaningful investment in conservation that is commensurate with the impact and scale of the bridge expansion.”
The ESLC said they are working with conservation partners, county governments, and state agency officials to ensure any effort to build a new bridge includes funding for land conservation.
