Public provides input on environmental impact of Key Bridge replacement

BALTIMORE -- The public provided feedback on the environmental impact of the Francis Scott Key Bridge rebuild during Tuesday's permit applications hearing hosted by the Maryland Transportation Authority.

On the Community College of Baltimore County's Dundalk campus, MDTA gave an overview of its request for a Water Quality Certification and a Tidal Wetlands License for the construction of the new bridge.

MDTA said the new bridge will result in 12.71 acres of permanent impacts to tidal waters while bridge construction and approach roadway modifications will result in 0.05 acres of permanent, non-tidal wetland impacts.

The informational hearing was held to draw comments from the public about the proposed work.

"The impacts will essentially be the locations in the Patapsco River where we'll have new pylons, new pier foundations, so that'll be the impacts there and then on the approach roadways, where we're impacting the non-tidal wetlands, the tidal wetlands," MDTA Chief Engineer Jim Harkness said.

Sounding off

The informational portion of the gathering segued into an open mic for people to provide feedback. Two members of the public signed up to speak.

"I see that a lot of the environmental impacts have been considered and I do feel that this can be, the bridge can be reconstructed with minimal environmental impacts," one speaker said.

While some shared support of the permits, others told WJZ there is concern surrounding the ecosystem of communities surrounding the project site.

"I would love to see more care for the people that have actually been affected and impacted by this, not just PowerPoint presentations or posters to say this is a certain phase, but real action plans, some boots on the ground," said Mindy Hill.

Higher clearance

The specific type of bridge, which will eventually carry I-695 over the Patapsco River, has not been selected. MDTA said the new bridge will connect to the existing roadway in the same right-of-way as it was before the collapse.

The structure will be higher than the previous bridge with a minimum 230-foot vertical clearance over the federal navigation channel.

"Because we've gone into this process early and without any concept of the bridge, we've had to just make some assumptions about the impacts," Harkness said.

The estimated cost of the new bridge is $1.2 billion. It is expected to be completed by the fall of 2028.

New contractors

MDTA approved a $73 million contract for Kiewit Infrastructure Company to design and construct the new bridge.

The Key Bridge rebuild will be done in two phases, starting with project development, which will take about a year. When the first phase is finished, Kiewit will be given exclusive negotiating rights for phase two, consisting of the final project design and construction.

If you wish to weigh in, you may write to:

Maryland Department of the Environment

Tidal Wetlands Division

Attn: Matt Wallach

1800 Washington Boulevard

Baltimore, MD 21230

Written comments will be accepted through Oct. 1.