Maryland Matters reports, a federal judge yesterday refused to issue a temporary restraining order that would have blocked Maryland DOT from starting demolition of the obsolete Nice/Middleton (route 301) toll bridge structure this week. Her ruling came at the end of a three-hour hearing that included testimony on the old span’s condition and the possibility it could affect the new structure that replaces it starting today. A coalition of cycling groups sued the state in an effort to preserve the old bridge for pedestrian and cyclist use. The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) announced the schedule of the new bridge’s opening and the start of demolition activities “just hours” before the hearing. An MDTA official denied that the the authority “rushed completion of the replacement span to blunt the cycling groups’ lawsuit.”
The Washington Post provides in-depth coverage of the replacement bridge’s opening, yesterday’s court hearing and the controversy Maryland sparked when it removed accommodations for walkers and bikers from the original design of the new bridge.