Hatem Bridge Toll Hike Scaled Back; Cecil County to Harford Span to Keep $10 Annual Fee
It’s RIP for the Hatem Bridge discounted toll decal but Cecil County residents won a major victory Thursday with a revised state proposal that would keep the toll at $10 a year with a free EZ Pass transponder. The Maryland Transportation Authority is expected to approve the revised plan next week, according to state Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Harford-Cecil.)
“I’m delighted, and a bit flabbergasted,” Jacobs told Cecil Times after the independent transportation panel backed down, during a worksession in Baltimore, from a massive toll hike plan that would have divided Cecil and Harford counties and imposed costly burdens on residents who use the Hatem Bridge over the Susquehanna River like a local street.
Initially, the decals would continue for a year, until September 2012, under the revised plan. Then local residents would be able to obtain a free EZ Pass transponder with no monthly maintenance fees, and a $10 annual fee, the same as decals cost now. But that fee would double, to $20, in 2013.
Jacobs said an important concern for many local residents had also been addressed: they will not need to have credit cards to obtain a Hatem-only transponder or pay the annual fee. Residents will be able to pay cash at the Hatem bridge administration building offices.
“This is a major victory for Cecil and Harford County residents,” Jacobs said, adding that the revised toll plan was “99 percent of what I was asking for.”
Jacobs had worked with the independent transportation body to develop alternatives to the initial proposal that would have killed the decals immediately and boosted Hatem Bridge tolls to $36 a year for commuters, rising to $72 a year by July, 2013. In addition, local residents would have had to purchase EZ Pass transponders and pay a $1.50 per month maintenance charge.
Cecil and Harford county residents turned out en masse for two public hearings in June to protest the initial proposals. Jacobs and Del. David Rudolph (D-34b) worked to come up with alternative proposals to address the state agency’s need for additional revenues to maintain roads and bridges while recognizing the unique nature of the Hatem Bridge and its role as a lifeline between Harford and Cecil counties, including services for veterans at the Perry Point VA Hospital in Perryville.
Meanwhile, the state panel has scaled back its proposed toll increases on the Bay Bridge, which currently charges motorists a $2.50 toll on the eastbound span. The transportation authority had proposed boosting that fee to $6, rising to $8 in July 2013. But now the panel is trimming that toll boost to $4 initially, rising to $6 in 2013.
I already have EZ PASS and have had it for years with Delaware. I assume they will make a provision since I don’t wanna have to go through all of that getting new account stuff going on!
As I read the plan from the MdTA worksession, if you have an existing Maryland EZ Pass account, you would simple have the “Hatem bridge only” plan added to your account at the walk-in center beginning Feb. 1, 2012 for $10/year and increasing to $20/year beginning July 1, 2013. For those who do not hold a Maryland EZ Pass account, the MdTA will, with the purchase of the “Hatem bridge only” plan, provide a free transponder with no prepayment fee and no maintenance charges. Hope this helps!
I lived in Cecil County all my life, up until 2008. Now I live in NC, where we don’t have such tolls,, but lots of bridges in need of repair. They have a HUT= Highway Usage Tax, which is paid yearly along with car tag renewal, so it’s not so much of a jump all at once and everyone in the state pays for it,not just those using the bridges.
I sometimes return to MD to visit and have always had a decal @ $4.50 for 6 mos which was easy to pay once. Also, being a Veteran, I needed to travel to Perry Point several times, so this decal worked well for me. Now what I can’t rationalize is paying $10.00 to cross over once a year which in essence is what it will cost me if I come across that bridge to visit my friends or family living in Cecil County…