In Japan, they thought the 12 mile evac radius was okay. Our government told our citizens 50 mile radius was more realistic. Our government turned out to be more accurate. They were not accurate when they said radiation would not reach the West Coast. It has.
Therefore, if CCNPP ever had a problem and St. Mary's County had to evacuate within the FIFTY mile evac zone, do you think you can get out in time? Before you answer, remember, people from the southern half of Calvert Co. will be coming across the Thomas Johnson bridge. The middle part will cross the Benedict bridge and go north. The northern part will only go north. At least this is what they think will happen.
Since there has been no real evacuation, they don't know for sure. During a smaller scale, REAL evacuation that took place during Sept. 11th, 2001 at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, MD, this evacuation was deemed to have failed by all of the so called experts that were involved.
Now, couple all of the above with the planned massive build up along Route 235 in the Lexington Park to California, MD area ( and yes, it is planned for the long term), and then you would have what in the D.C. area is called... "gridlock". I mentioned at one of the several meetings I attended that they have NO infrastructure to support the build up they plan to have over the years. THEY DON'T CARE. They really don't. I was totally ignored!
Those most effected are people in the St. Inigoes area, St. Mary's City area, to include all of St. Mary's College of Maryland, Ridge, Point Lookout, Point Lookout State Park and don't forget the County schools in the southern region.
This is more of a general problem our region has which is not properly addressed by a wide range of people, let alone the politicians. And when you ask the polticians, they either shrug their shoulders, or agree, but over the years do nothing to address the problem. Now, the roads we DO HAVE are crumbling under the traffic that continues to increase. Our infrastructure continues to go down hill. I realize in the southern half of St. Mary's County, the shoulders were paved to be used during an evacuation. This does no good at all. Here is why - You have bottlenecks all over the place caused by narrowed lanes, traffic light problems and accidents during an evac. Also, the bridges are without enough lanes. So, the extra paved would only increase the amount of traffic "sitting" on a road under what could potentially be dire circumstances.
The best plan, like many in Japan did is to leave early. They did not listen to stories downplaying the problem by their govenment. They got out when they could. Remember the evacuation zone in our phone books? Based on what we now know, the zone in the phone book is wishful thinking with no thought of any accuracy. The Enterprise newspaper recently had a similar concern in one of their articles.
Therefore, if CCNPP ever had a problem and St. Mary's County had to evacuate within the FIFTY mile evac zone, do you think you can get out in time? Before you answer, remember, people from the southern half of Calvert Co. will be coming across the Thomas Johnson bridge. The middle part will cross the Benedict bridge and go north. The northern part will only go north. At least this is what they think will happen.
Since there has been no real evacuation, they don't know for sure. During a smaller scale, REAL evacuation that took place during Sept. 11th, 2001 at the Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, MD, this evacuation was deemed to have failed by all of the so called experts that were involved.
Now, couple all of the above with the planned massive build up along Route 235 in the Lexington Park to California, MD area ( and yes, it is planned for the long term), and then you would have what in the D.C. area is called... "gridlock". I mentioned at one of the several meetings I attended that they have NO infrastructure to support the build up they plan to have over the years. THEY DON'T CARE. They really don't. I was totally ignored!
Those most effected are people in the St. Inigoes area, St. Mary's City area, to include all of St. Mary's College of Maryland, Ridge, Point Lookout, Point Lookout State Park and don't forget the County schools in the southern region.
This is more of a general problem our region has which is not properly addressed by a wide range of people, let alone the politicians. And when you ask the polticians, they either shrug their shoulders, or agree, but over the years do nothing to address the problem. Now, the roads we DO HAVE are crumbling under the traffic that continues to increase. Our infrastructure continues to go down hill. I realize in the southern half of St. Mary's County, the shoulders were paved to be used during an evacuation. This does no good at all. Here is why - You have bottlenecks all over the place caused by narrowed lanes, traffic light problems and accidents during an evac. Also, the bridges are without enough lanes. So, the extra paved would only increase the amount of traffic "sitting" on a road under what could potentially be dire circumstances.
The best plan, like many in Japan did is to leave early. They did not listen to stories downplaying the problem by their govenment. They got out when they could. Remember the evacuation zone in our phone books? Based on what we now know, the zone in the phone book is wishful thinking with no thought of any accuracy. The Enterprise newspaper recently had a similar concern in one of their articles.