Susquehanna River Rail Bridge Project Public Outreach Information Session April 28 in Havre de Grace

From the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Greenway:

You are invited to attend a Susquehanna River Rail Bridge Project Preliminary Engineering and NEPA Phase Public Outreach Information Session on Monday, April 28, 2014 from 5:00pm to 8:00pm at the Havre de Grace Activity Center, 351 Lewis Lane, Havre de Grace, MD 21078.

Come to the open house anytime between 5:00pm and 8:00pm. No formal presentation will be given. At the open house you can:

Meet the project team
Learn about the project
Share Ideas
Ask Questions

We encourage your attendance and input at this critical phase of the planning process. Please join us in conveying the following message to Amtrak:

1. This bridge will dominate the Havre de Grace waterfront well into the 22nd century, therefore the design must be consistent with the adjacent communities; ?

2. This new bridge must be beautiful, magnificent and represent a transportation gateway to the Nationally treasured Chesapeake and 2 National Historic Trails;

3. The bridge is not just “the Amtrak Bridge” it is the Heritage Gateway Bridge of the Susquehanna;

4. The long planned Greenway’s pedestrian and bicycle crossing must be preserved and be part of the scope of this project;

5. The City of Havre de Grace and Town of Perryville must receive street and park improvements in exchange for loss of property;

6. A commuter/tourism station must be provided near downtown Havre de Grace to compliment the Perryville Station.

The existing Susquehanna River Rail Bridge is a two-track rail bridge connecting Havre de Grace, MD and Perryville, MD. This 108-year-old bridge creates a bottleneck along this segment of the Northeast Corridor, resulting in conflicts between Amtrak’s passenger service, MARC commuter rail and freight trains operated by Norfolk Southern Railway. The Maryland Department of Transportation is the project sponsor and is working with the Federal Railroad Administration, the Maryland Transit Administration and Amtrak to study various alternatives to improve this rail crossing along the heavily traveled Northeast Corridor. The project team is in the process of considering the potential impacts of the project to the social and natural environment as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) of 1966.