IF I may ...
The argument for the bridge was it would spur economic growth.
The reason the bridge was built was solely because of the need for an emergency egress requirement for points south of, and for the approval and construction of, the then new Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant.
That was the only factor in having that bridge built. Did some local politicians use economics as a reason to ostensibly push for, and support the construction of, a bridge? You bet they did. Made them look good even though no matter what, that it would have been built. It was also the reason for making Route 4 a double two lane highway. In 1970 Calvert County's population was a measly 20,682 in the whole of the county. (With more than that amount now living south of the power plant). Definitely not enough people to support and justify a new double two lane highway. Saint Mary's? 47,388. Between the two counties a total of 68,070. And they would have us believe that the bridge was built to, "spur economic growth" or because of the phase out of slot machines? Does anyone really think that Annapolis would have approved that amount of money then, $26 million, for the benefit of two podunk backwater counties in Southern Maryland? Nuclear power was very scary during this time period with the threat of nuclear war. Cuban missile crisis still fresh in the minds of the public. Civil defense. Fallout shelters. "Duck and cover" and all that. What a better way to hide the spending for an emergency bridge requirement and all the new taxes a nuclear power generation facility would bring to Maryland, and Calvert County?
Funding was approved for the bridge in 1966. Construction of Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant began in 1969. Construction on the Thomas Johnson bridge started in 1972. Calvert Cliffs Unit 1 went into commercial service in 1975. Unit 2 in 1977. Bridge construction completed and opened to traffic on Dec. 17, 1977.
So, if anyone wants to fight for a new bridge, use the argument of bridge deterioration, jammed or limited to no egress during a nuclear power generation accident. What's the point of having emergency sirens if you can't react to them and get out quickly and safely without being exposed to high levels of deadly, life ending, cancer causing, radiation if you need to or can't leave via that bridge? Or maybe everyone thinks that a Fukushima, Three Mile Island, or Chernobyl, or Onagawa, Fleurus, Forsmark, Erwin, Sellafield, Atucha, Braidwood, Paks, Tokaimura, Yanangio, Ikitelli, Ishikawa, Tomsk, Cadarache, Vandellos, Greifswald, Hamm-Uentrop, Tsuraga, Saint Laurent des Eaux, Jaslovské Bohunice, Lucens, Chapelcross, Monroe, Charlestown, Santa Susana Field Laboratory, Chalk River, Vinča, Kyshtym, Windscale Pile, type events can't happen here in little 'ole backwater Calvert County? Maybe we should just trust Exelon to do things right?
Investigation: Radioactive leaks at Illinois nuclear plants
