Hatem Bridge

Once again Dan Rodricks misses the point entirely ("Save the Hatem Bridge decal," June 20). Only a somewhat deluded individual could construe a $62 fee hike, as a savings. In the current economy, people don't have an extra $62 to give to the government so that they can squander it. The comparison to the bridge on I-95 is apples to oranges. One is a small highway, used predominantly, by locals; the other is the largest, most travelled road in the country. If the fee must be raised, raise it to $25-$30.

A Harford County jury has determined the State of Maryland and several of its principal transportation agencies were not negligent in connection with a 2001 accident on the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge that killed two Harford County residents. The jury of six women, who heard a lawsuit brought by the father of one of the victims, 12-year-old Ashley Tollenger, of Churchville, reached its verdict late Friday afternoon, following a trial in Bel Air before Circuit Court Judge M. Elizabeth Bowen that began Nov. 7. Garrett Tollenger, Ashley's father, sued the state, the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transportation Authority, claiming their failure to repair defects in the bridge's roadway and to construct a crash barrier separating the oncoming lanes of the four-lane bridge contributed to the death of his daughter and her stepfather, Kenneth Connor, 52, of Havre de Grace.

State Sen. Nancy Jacobs is right that the Hatem Bridge linking Havre de Grace and Perryville should remain affordable to motorists ("Columnist gets it half right on proposed toll increases," June 16). But Senator Jacobs only gets it half right, too: What about people who can't afford a car, one-car families, etc.? And why aren't people allowed to walk or bicycle across this one-mile span? Transportation officials say the bridge was designed only for motorists and that walking or bicycling over it is unsafe.

All of Harford County was virtually shut down Monday, as residents braced for the worst of the powerful Hurricane Sandy, which was ever closer to making landfall on the coast between Maryland and New Jersey. Heavy rain pelted the county overnight Sunday and throughout the day Monday. Increasing sustained wind were also evident in advance of the storm, whose worse impacts are expected from Monday evening through Tuesday, according to the most recent National Weather Service forecasts.

Praise God and all the construction workers on the Hatem Bridge. After three years of one-lane back-ups every night as I left Havre de Grace and headed home to Port Deposit, last week, in the middle of the bridge, two lanes opened up and it was heavenly. The next day, it was clear sailing all the way on two eastbound lanes. Hooray!! Water Witch Fire Company's annual Firemen's Carnival is running all week through Saturday on the grounds of Woodlawn Station, off Jacob Tome Highway.

Traffic will again begin to flow smoothly along U.S. 40 between Harford and Cecil counties this summer, officials said, with completion of the $65 million reconstruction of the Hatem Bridge across the Susquehanna River. The three-year project has entered its fourth and final phase, which includes installation of a permanent barrier wall down the center of the 1.5-mile span, built more than 70 years ago for about $5 million. "We have about six months to go, depending on the weather," said Teri Moss, spokeswoman for the Maryland Transportation Authority.

More than 1,000 people from the northeast corner of the state came out Monday evening to tell state officials not to raise the toll on the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge, which they say connects them to their churches, shopping centers, doctors and friends on the other side of the Susquehanna River. The toll rate is slated to rise from $10 a year for area residents who sign up for a special decal to $36 in October and $72 in 2013. It's part of a larger plan to raise maintenance and repair money from tolls across the state for bridges, tunnels and roads.

A Harford County jury has determined the State of Maryland and several of its principal transportation agencies were not negligent in connection with a 2001 accident on the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge that killed two Harford County residents. The jury of six women, who heard a lawsuit brought by the father of one of the victims, 12-year-old Ashley Tollenger, of Churchville, reached its verdict late Friday afternoon, following a trial in Bel Air before Circuit Court Judge M. Elizabeth Bowen that began Nov. 7. Garrett Tollenger, Ashley's father, sued the state, the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Transportation Authority, claiming their failure to repair defects in the bridge's roadway and to construct a crash barrier separating the oncoming lanes of the four-lane bridge contributed to the death of his daughter and her stepfather, Kenneth Connor, 52, of Havre de Grace.

All of Harford County was virtually shut down Monday, as residents braced for the worst of the powerful Hurricane Sandy, which was ever closer to making landfall on the coast between Maryland and New Jersey. Heavy rain pelted the county overnight Sunday and throughout the day Monday. Increasing sustained wind were also evident in advance of the storm, whose worse impacts are expected from Monday evening through Tuesday, according to the most recent National Weather Service forecasts.

Government and business leaders in Harford and Cecil counties are gearing up to be heard on a final plan to raise tolls on the two Susquehanna River bridges. The increases proposed include ending the AVI decal for the Route 40 Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge, which is popular with residents of the Havre de Grace and Perryville areas, and replacing it with E-Z Pass, but at a much steeper cost. The Maryland Transportation Authority released a formal toll increase proposal Thursday which calls for increasing the $5 base car and light truck toll on the Hatem Route 40 Bridge and the Millard Tydings I-95 Bridge to $6 effective Oct. 1 and to $8 effective July 1, 2013.

From time to time, two competing technologies exist in parallel situations for an extended period prior to one dominating, and supplanting, the other. Back in the tape age, there was a great debate among tech heads as to whether Beta or VHS was the better format for videotape. For a while, both were available at Blockbuster and other video stores. Beta supposedly had superior sound quality and equally good picture quality, and the tape cassettes were smaller, so that style of videotape had a loyal following.

The Maryland Transportation Authority says more than 26,000 E-ZPass Hatem Bridge plans have been opened since February, and this is the final week to sign up and save money on next year's renewal. MDTA is urging Hatem Bridge users to sign up for one of the Hatem Bridge E-ZPass plans now and avoid the rush as the Sept. 30 deadline to use AVI decals approaches. "Customers who open an E-ZPass Hatem Bridge Plan before July 1, 2012, will save $10 on renewals next year because their plans will renew before the price changes to $20 on July 1, 2013," MDTA Executive Secretary Harold M. Bartlett said in a news release Wednesday.

From The Aegis of March 5, 1987: Harford County Sheriff Dominick Mele was seeing red 25 years ago this week after the county executive, Habern Freeman, hinted at creating a county police force, and had already gone to the extent of creating a task force to do a "comprehensive study" of all county police agencies. "We believe that it is time for us to determine whether a county police force would better fit our concept of county self-reliance and accountability," Freeman said during his annual update on Harford County.

The Maryland Transportation Authority will hold two community open houses this month to offer drivers the opportunity to get information on and enroll in Hatem Bridge E-ZPass plans. The first will be Wednesday, Feb. 15, 5 - 7 p.m., at the Havre de Grace Activity Center, 351 Lewis Lane. Snow date is Feb. 22. The second will be Tuesday, Feb. 21, 5 - 7 p.m. at Perryville High School, 1696 Perryville Road. Snow date is Feb. 23. Since there will not be a formal presentation, the public can arrive any time between 5 and 7 p.m. The open houses will feature displays and materials about the new plans and details on the transition dates.

Commuters between Harford and Cecil counties will soon have a public transit option for crossing the Susquehanna River, one with a fare that is $4 less than the toll motorists pay to use the bridge. Maryland Transit Administration and county officials launched the first inter-county public transportation route Monday with the oldest crossing, an aging railroad bridge, and the newest transit bus models from each county in the background. "Two jurisdictions have partnered for the first time to bring this great opportunity to their citizens," said Elizabeth Kreider, MTA director of local transit support.

Tolls for multi-axle vehicles - those with more than two axles including trailers being towed - on the I-95 Tydings and Route 40 Hatem bridges will both increase and decrease effective at 12:01 a.m. Sunday when the next phase of the statewide toll increases takes effect. The multiple-axle vehicle tolls on the three Baltimore Harbor crossings - Harbor and Ft. McHenry tunnels and Francis Scott Key Bridge - and the Bay Bridge will increase across the board; however, that won't be the case with the two Susquehanna River bridges, where reductions will occur for 3-axle and 4-axle vehicles, according to the Maryland Transportation Authority, or MdTA, which operates the state's toll bridges and tunnels.

Members of the Maryland Transportation Authority board are examining ways to buffer the impact of the authority's largest toll increase in history while still raising the money they believe is necessary to pay bonds and maintain its infrastructure. Trailer users, in-state truckers and frequent travelers on the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge could be among the beneficiaries of the changes discussed Thursday at the board's regular monthly meeting. Whatever tweaks the board members decide to make, the start date for the first toll increases will likely be postponed by at least a month, according to Maryland Transportation Secretary Beverley Swaim-Staley.

Gene Egeberg of Bethesda, whose professional travel takes him across Baltimore Harbor several times a day, figures the new toll increases in Maryland will cost him $294 per year. And in 2013, that will go up to $517. After months of debate and contentious public hearings, the first phase of the largest toll hike in Maryland history became official at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. The increases affect seven of the state's eight toll highways, tunnels and bridges. Only the Intercounty Connector, a partly opened toll road that uses a variable pricing scheme based on traffic levels, is exempt.

The first phase of toll increases for the two Susquehanna River bridges, as well as other bridges and tunnels around the state, will take effect at 12:01 Tuesday morning, Nov. 1. The immediate impact at the Thomas Hatem Memorial Route 40 and Millard Tydings I-95 bridges will be a $1 increase in the one-way northbound cash toll for two-axle vehicles from $5 to $6. The cash toll will go up again to $8 on July 1, 2013. There are no corresponding increases taking effect for multiple axle vehicles at either Susquehanna River bridge until Jan. 1, 2012, when the cash toll for three- and four-axle vehicles will actually decrease by $3 and $5, respectively, before increasing by $1 on July 2013.