Traffic between Maryland and Virginia has become a daily nightmare. Commuters crawl across the American Legion Bridge, sit in endless backups on I-495 and I-270, and waste countless hours of productivity. Yet despite decades of warnings and surging growth in the Greater Washington region, Maryland has stubbornly refused to do the one thing that would truly reduce congestion: build more bridges across the Potomac River.
The highlighted passage from a recent editorial makes it plain: the gridlock stems “from the very bad decision Maryland has made through the years to not add additional Potomac River crossings north and south of the Greater D.C. region.” That’s not Virginia’s fault. That’s not D.C.’s fault. It’s Maryland’s refusal to act.
Maryland’s Control — and Maryland’s Inaction
Few Marylanders realize this, but the state actually controls the Potomac River all the way to the Virginia shoreline. That means no new bridge, no tunnel, and no major crossing can be built without Maryland’s approval. In other words, the congestion crisis is not a regional inevitability—it’s a political choice.
Maryland has chosen inaction. It has blocked proposals, dodged long-term planning, and defaulted to Band-Aid solutions like “adding toll lanes” instead of addressing the structural problem: too few crossings to handle the volume of traffic.
A Tale of Two States
Virginia, by contrast, has aggressively built infrastructure. From I-95 express lanes to new overpasses and interchanges, Virginia has spent the past two decades trying to get ahead of growth. Maryland? It has tied itself up in political debates, environmental lawsuits, and endless studies that lead nowhere. The result: gridlock.
It is astonishing that the last major Potomac River crossing expansion was the Wilson Bridge replacement in the 2000s. Since then, population has exploded, job centers have expanded, and daily traffic has surged. Yet Maryland policymakers have done virtually nothing to plan or deliver another crossing.
Who Benefits from Delay?
The refusal to build new crossings benefits no one but entrenched political interests and anti-growth activists. Ordinary Marylanders pay the price in wasted time, higher gas bills, reduced productivity, and lower quality of life. Businesses think twice before relocating here because they know their employees will spend hours trapped on the Beltway. Families lose precious time together because they’re stuck in traffic.
Meanwhile, Virginia keeps attracting employers, investors, and workers with the promise of better mobility. Maryland’s refusal to act isn’t just frustrating—it’s economically self-destructive.
It’s Time for Courage
Leaders in Annapolis love to talk about equity, climate, and long-term planning. But there is nothing equitable about forcing working families to sit in traffic for hours a day. There is nothing green about idling cars spewing emissions into the air because the state refuses to build the infrastructure needed. And there is nothing responsible about ignoring the obvious: without new bridges, the problem will only get worse.
Maryland must stop hiding behind excuses and environmental posturing. Build the bridges. Build them north. Build them south. Give commuters alternatives.
If Virginia can do it, so can Maryland—if only the state’s leaders cared as much about mobility and opportunity as they do about political posturing.
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