Chesapeake Bay Bridge Replacement Clears Federal Review. What Comes Next
Maryland plans two four-lane spans on the route to the Eastern Shore. Design is expected in 2028, with construction possible as early as 2032.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The Federal Highway Administration has approved Maryland’s plan to replace both spans of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge with two new four-lane bridges. The decision, announced Thursday by the Maryland Transportation Authority, completes the federal environmental review for the U.S. 50/301 crossing that carries Northern Virginia beach traffic toward Kent Island and Ocean City. Maryland expects final design to begin in spring 2028 and says construction could start as early as summer 2032.
The federal Final Environmental Impact Statement and Record of Decision selects Alternative C, which keeps the crossing in its existing corridor. The next step on the project schedule is procurement for final design, a process Maryland expects to run through spring 2028.
Five lanes today, eight under the approved plan
The original two-lane eastbound bridge opened in 1952. The three-lane westbound span opened in 1973. On busy eastbound days, the MDTA can reverse one lane on the westbound span to handle traffic headed for the Eastern Shore. The replacement would provide four lanes in each direction and full shoulders, giving drivers room to pull out of a travel lane after a breakdown.
The immediate bridge approaches would also widen to eight lanes, from west of Oceanic Drive on the Anne Arundel County side to east of Cox Creek on Kent Island. The wider section would then taper back to six lanes. State planners project that the plan would clear the bridge bottleneck in both directions on a typical non-summer weekday and eastbound on a summer weekend day. The forecast leaves westbound summer weekend backups as a concern.
Ships would have 230 feet of vertical clearance, up from 185 feet at the current crossing, according to MDTA advisory group records. That is the same clearance planned for the new Francis Scott Key Bridge and would allow larger vessels to reach the Port of Baltimore.
How Maryland would keep the crossing open
In the state’s illustrated construction sequence, the new eastbound bridge would go up just south of the existing spans. Traffic would shift onto it so the old eastbound bridge could come down. Crews would then build the new westbound span in the space between the new eastbound bridge and the remaining old span. The old westbound bridge would come down last. The sequence illustrates how Maryland could keep a crossing in service as it replaces the spans.
What it could cost and what’s still open
MDTA’s December 2025 board materials put the planning estimate at $14.8 billion to $16.4 billion. With the optional shared-use path for people walking and biking, the range rose to $16.1 billion to $17.6 billion. Those figures are preliminary. The Nov. 5 announcement left the path subject to a financial feasibility review and gave no new toll rates or firm opening date.
Maryland also proposes a one-time investment of up to $40 million for transit improvements and has committed to preserving land on the Eastern Shore. Federal reviewers found the selected route had the lowest environmental impact among the options that would build a crossing. The final study includes maps of affected resources and the agencies’ responses to public comments. MDTA says it received more than 5,600 comments and survey responses during this phase of the study.
For travel now, drivers can check the Maryland Transportation Authority’s Bay Bridge page for information on the existing crossing. The project site has the federal decision, environmental maps and locations where readers can review the documents in person.
