MDTA Facility Dedications

On Monday, December 31, 2007, while working a traffic initiative at the I-95/I-395 interchange, Corporal Courtney Brooks was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver. Corporal Brooks was transported to Maryland Shock Trauma Center where he succumbed to injuries shortly after midnight on New Year’s Day.

A 13-year veteran of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, Corporal Brooks served as a member of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Unit (CVSU). At the time he was struck, he was participating in homeland-security efforts to divert commercial vehicles away from Baltimore's Inner Harbor area during New Year's Eve festivities.

Corporal Brooks was posthumously promoted to Corporal by Chief Marcus Brown. Corporal Brooks left behind his fiancé and three children.

Baseball Hall of Famer and Golden Glove recipient Cal Ripken Jr. played for the Baltimore Orioles from 1981 to 2001. He is a 19-time All-Star and was twice named American League Most Valuable Player. On September 6, 1995, Ripken surpassed Lou Gehrig’s streak of 2,130 consecutive games that had stood for 56 years. The “Iron Man” holds the record at 2,632.

Cal Ripken’s commitment to working hard and playing by the rules became known as the “Ripken Way.” His dedication made him a national icon, inspiring the people of Baltimore and Americans nationwide.

On July 27, 2007, the US House of Representatives presented HR 3218, which called for formally naming a portion of I-395 from I-95 to Conway Street after the Iron Man.

Congressman Sarbanes stated, “This celebration of Cal is the fanfare for the common man. Going to work every day, come hell or high water, building a career, providing for a family like our fathers did before us is something that we can all relate to. If we pass this legislation, when travelers come to visit Baltimore or pass by on their way to another destination, they will not only be reminded of a terrific ballplayer whose name has become synonymous with the Orioles, but also a model American and the promise of doing things ‘The Ripken Way.’”

President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on September 28, 2007, and the formal re-dedication took place on May 30, 2008.

The Francis Scott Key Bridge opened in March 1977 and is named for the author of the Star Spangled Banner. The bridge is the outermost of three toll crossings of Baltimore's Harbor. Upon completion, the bridge structure and its approaches became the final links in Interstate 695 (the Baltimore Beltway).

The Key Bridge is located in an area rich with American history. Scholars believe the span crosses within 100 yards of the site where Francis Scott Key witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry on the evening of Sept. 12, 1814. That battle inspired Key to write the words of the Star Spangled Banner.

The Intercounty Connector (ICC)/MD 200 was included in transportation planning efforts tracing back to the 1950s. Despite significant financial investment, planning and engineering work, the ICC project stalled. After his election in 2003, Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. made a direct request to President George W. Bush to secure the key federal funding for the project. He garnered bipartisan support between federal and local governments to gain key endorsements from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Montgomery County.

The MDTA took ownership of the ICC from the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) in 2011, creating the first all-electronic toll road in the state of Maryland and providing a vital 18-mile east-west link between US 1 in Prince George’s County and Interstate 270 in Montgomery County.

After issuing a motorist a citation for a traffic infraction, Corporal Aaron returned to his vehicle parked on the shoulder of US 50/301, near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. As Corporal Aaron was sitting in the patrol car filling out paperwork, his vehicle was struck from behind by a pick-up truck.

The driver of the pick-up truck had a suspended license at the time of the incident. He was charged with 12 counts and later pled guilty to vehicular manslaughter. He was sentenced to three years in prison and five years of supervised probation.

MDTA Police officials posthumously promoted the 10-year veteran and three-time Officer of the Year to the rank of Corporal. He left behind his wife and many family members and friends.

William Preston Lane Jr. (May 12, 1892 – February 7, 1967) served as the Attorney General of Maryland from 1931 to 1945 and the 52nd Governor of Maryland from 1947 to 1951. Major highway improvements, which had been deferred by World War II, were put in motion thanks to funds appropriated by the enactment in 1947 of Maryland's first state sales tax. Under the leadership of Governor William Preston Lane Jr., during the regular and extraordinary sessions of the 1947 General Assembly, the State Roads Commission was directed to proceed with building a Bay Bridge.

On November 9, 1967, the bridge was dedicated to Governor Lane, who had died earlier that year, and officially renamed the “William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge.”

As the world's largest continuous over-water steel structure when it opened in 1952, the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial (Bay) Bridge provides a structural link that did not exist in the days when colonial Marylanders traveled by boat, with the Chesapeake Bay as their highway.

The Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton Bridge carries US 301 over the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia. The original bridge was completed in 1940 and was the first crossing south of Washington, DC to provide a highway link between Maryland and Virginia. Before the bridge was built, travelers heading from eastern and southern Maryland to Richmond and Norfolk, and points further south, traveled through Washington, DC along US 1.

Originally called the Potomac River Bridge, the structure was renamed in April 1968 to honor Harry W. Nice (1877-1941), Maryland’s 50th governor under whose administration the original bridge was planned and built.

In 2018, Delegate Sally Jameson sponsored legislation that would rename the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge to the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton Bridge as a tribute to Maryland Senator Middleton, who for about two decades had been the legislature’s most vocal champion of replacing the aging bridge with a wider span that meets modern standards of bridge design. This legislation, House Bill 4, became law on October 1, 2018.

A lifetime resident of Charles County, Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton has been a public servant since 1976, when he entered the U.S. Army. He was a member of the Charles County Planning Commission from 1978-1985 and served in various roles in Charles County until 1995, when he became a Maryland Senator. Senator Middleton served his last term in office during 2018 as the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee.

Construction on a new bridge started in July 2020 was opened on October 12, 2022, providing the public with a wider, safer crossing over the Potomac. The new bridge will reduce congestion and improve safety and traffic operations for the thousands who rely on it for work, business and recreation.