Jeremy Cox

The Daily Times

Correction: The original version of this report contained incorrect information on the bridge timeline. It should have said it was on schedule for the "purpose and need" study to be completed by the end of October. Also, this version deletes incorrect information about how the effort started. Gov. Larry Hogan announced the funding in August 2016.

As miles-long traffic jams lock up the Chesapeake Bay Bridge for a summer of frustration, another potential delay could intensify drivers' headaches.

A $5 million study, an effort to determine where to build a third span and how to pay for it, is off to a bumpy start and could hit a funding snag, a state official said.

The Maryland Transportation Authority began working on the study in August 2016; it is scheduled to be completed in 2020.

The authority originally plans to release a preliminary version of its "purpose and need" study, the first public step in the effort, by end of October, said Tim Cooke, the agency's community outreach manager.

The release of the authority's proposed list of route alternatives is set to happen toward the end of the year, he added.

But in the meantime, staff members are searching within their own budget for more funding. In particular, the authority would like to purchase a dedicated westbound traffic counter, which likely would help build the case for a third bridge, Cooke said.

Cooke's comments came late Wednesday at a Bay Bridge advisory group's hearing in Annapolis. Asked whether those issues would push back the study's completion date, Cooke replied that the authority's staff is being deliberate to ensure the work is done correctly and thoroughly.

“We’re trying not to end up where the last four studies ended up, which was no decision," he said.

More:A 3rd Chesapeake Bay bridge? Hogan says study to begin

Calls for traffic relief have grown more intense in recent years as the state's tourism industry has rebounded from its Great Recession-era nadir.

Jack Broderick, a Queen Anne's County resident and chairman of the Bay Bridge advisory group, said drivers can't afford to wait any longer. He pressed his fellow group members and elected officials to lobby Gov. Larry Hogan's administration for more financial help to get the study done.

If the state fails to do the study in a timely manner, "the thing looks like the big stall," said Richard "Dick" Ladd, a former Anne Arundel County councilman.

For drivers, stalls are all too familiar on the 4-mile bridge and its approaches. The average traffic volume during Sundays in the summer is forecast to swell to 125,900 vehicles by 2040, a 31 percent increase from 2013, a state study found.

The Bay Bridge's two-lane eastbound span was constructed in 1952 — the 65th anniversary of its opening is July 30. A westbound, three-lane span was added in 1973.

Work began in earnest on the so-called Tier 1 National Environmental Policy Act Study at the beginning of this year, Cooke said. But as preliminary engineering progressed, it became clear to all involved that the work would have to be restructured and more resources would be needed, he said.

“I wish we got off to a faster start, but we also want things to be done correctly," Cooke said.

One of the main reasons for all the caution: The state fully expects the bridge proposal to wind up in court.

“There’s no doubt this will be sued" at the end of the environmental study, Cooke said, adding that such litigation is common even with projects much smaller in scope.

So the authority is looking along virtually the entire length of the bay in Maryland for possible bridge corridors, he said. Where a similar 2004 study narrowed the alternatives to four or five possibilities, officials are looking to vet as many as a dozen this time around.

Some probably wouldn't stand up as serious contenders for too long because of their hefty construction costs, Cooke said. A bridge could theoretically be built at one point across southern Maryland, for example, but it would be 22 miles long.

The final study, he said, will “bring into focus the corridors we believe are viable for a new bay bridge.”

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