(The following story by Susan Gervasi appeared on the Washington Post website on December 18.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The price of a railroad bridge aimed at easing traffic jams caused by train crossings near the Bladensburg Peace Cross has jumped $10 million, leaving local officials and residents worried about the prospects for the project.
The bridge may now cost $61 million, according to state estimates outlined last week at a community meeting.
“I’m incredibly depressed and I’m incredibly angry,” said Cottage City resident Denise Hamler, who views an overpass as critical to revitalizing the neighboring inner-Beltway communities of Colmar Manor, Cottage City and Bladensburg — often referred to as the “port towns” because all border the Anacostia River.
Hamler, who began campaigning for the overpass in 1996, expressed frustration that a 2002 Maryland Department of Transportation commitment of $54 million to fund the project — which was dropped to $51 million in Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich’s fiscal 2004 budget — has been deemed inadequate.
“We got the money from the state,” Hamler said. “We won. Now we’re back here fighting it again.”
The Dec. 9 hearing at Bladensburg Elementary School, organized by state Sen. Gwendolyn T. Britt (D-Landover Hills), was intended to update residents on the status of plans for the overpass bridge, which would raise about 1.2 miles of train tracks. Trains make at-grade crossings at Annapolis Road (Route 450) up to 30 times daily, stopping traffic for seven to 10 minutes each time, residents said.
Maryland State Highway Administrator Neil Pedersen told the crowd of about 40 officials and residents that the hike was necessary because of rail company CSX’s concerns about long-term maintenance of the bridge, which would add $10 million to the price.
Stephen C. Thienel, a CSX regional vice president who spoke at the meeting, said CSX had never signed off on the lower-priced version of the project. The company is considering paying $1.2 million toward the costs; the rest would be paid by the state.
“It’s not a simple project from an engineering standpoint,” Pedersen said. “We entered into that design recognizing there was risk associated with it. Both we and CSX recognized the risk. They could not be confident [that without the increases] they could maintain the structures long- term.”
Pedersen suggested that those at the meeting step up lobbying efforts with state officials to get the additional $10 million for a project expected to take three years to complete.
State Highway Administration spokesman David Buck said Monday that getting the overpass built is “obviously a very huge priority” for the agency as “a safety issue, and a congestion issue for the people that drive that route. It’s definitely a very frequent [railroad] crossing.”
He said his agency is optimistic the project will receive the needed funding, and that SHA officials will be talking with Prince George’s state officials “as they prioritize this project and others” for the upcoming legislative session.
“If funding is available, we are hoping to advertise the project next April,” he said, adding that after bids are received and awarded, construction could begin in July.
Bladensburg and county police officers, as well as a Bladensburg firefighter, described dangerous delays routinely caused by the trains, while Bladensburg Mayor Robert McGrory raised the prospect of a terrorist-spurred mass automobile exodus from Washington along the major commuter corridor. And there is always worry about the possibility of a train accident and hazardous spill.
Another area concern is economic. Local business people believe the incessant snarls discourage new businesses from moving in, deter shopping and hinder a possible economic renaissance along the history-rich corridor where the War of 1812’s Battle of Bladensburg was fought, and a number of 18th-century structures still stand.
“We are especially concerned about this for economic reasons and for social justice reasons,” said Rebecca Lusk, whose family owns the Port Towns Shopping Center at Colmar Manor. “It’s going to affect economic prosperity here. If we don’t get the bridge, it can only get worse.” Both Lusk and Prince George’s County Councilman David Harrington, the former mayor of Bladensburg, suggested that the area’s black-majority demographics have played a role.
“This might already have been built in another community,” Lusk said. “If this was in other neighborhoods, you know this wouldn’t be happening,” Harrington said.
“It’s an intolerable health and safety issue,” said State Del. Doyle L. Niemann (D-Mount Rainier), who compared the community’s frustration to the Boston Tea Party and hinted that some form of organized civil disobedience against CSX was not out of the question if overpass delays continue.
“If this doesn’t proceed, CSX’s life in this community and its ability to pass through this community is at risk,” Niemann said.
Others suggested that CSX and the state look at ways to economize, or — with the $51 million already committed — proceed with construction.
“There’s an extreme level of disappointment in what’s going on here, and I’m not convinced there’s not an alternative,” said Colmar Manor resident Sadara Barrow.
“Figure out what you need to cut out and let’s go.”