How to build back better in Baltimore, and across the nation

The 984-foot Dali container ship had two tugboats assisting her port departure until shortly before she veered off course. Shippers pay for every minute these tugs are employed, so perhaps it’s no surprise the ship opted not to be guided under the bridge on a night when the moon was full and winds were calm.

Over a year after the tragic East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment, new federal regulations will require two-person crews for trains carrying passengers or commercial materials. It is unconscionable that these behemoths, which can be up to five miles in length, could run with only one operator. These trains block road crossings for long periods of time, impeding emergency vehicles and forcing children to crawl under the stationary cars on their way to school.

The trucking industry is seeing increased competition, while at the same time asking more of its drivers. Double and even triple trailers are common out west. Increased congestion, hazardous weather and road-rage drivers add to the stress. Can you imagine driving an 18-wheeler in stop-and-go traffic on the Cross Bronx Expressway every day, or trying to stay awake during the wee hours of the morning on a lonely stretch of highway?

Being an airline pilot used to be one of the most prestigious professions available. This industry has become more competitive, airports are busier, weather is worse, and passengers have become unruly. Both pilots on a recent Batik Air flight in Indonesia fell asleep at the same time for almost a half-hour. Their plane had 157 other people on board.

We need to examine what we are asking of transportation professionals. These men and women are not receiving the support required to do what is expected of them. Nobody likes increased federal regulations impeding on our free-market economy. However, if we keep demanding more for less, disasters will continue to happen.

Eric Greene, Annapolis

The preventable collapse of the Key Bridge must be a wake-up call. Maryland officials have long pursued a flawed and expensive strategy of simply adding toll lanes on I-495 and I-270. Even with additional lanes, we are limited to a small number of Potomac River crossings that are vulnerable to motor vehicle, plane or boat crashes — along with terrorism. Such an event would paralyze our entire East Coast transportation system as well as the ability to evacuate the city, if necessary.

Instead, officials should draw inspiration from the “Reach the Beach” strategy championed 35 years ago, by a determined Maryland Gov. William Donald Schaefer (D). It helped eliminate the weekend gridlock of motorists heading to Ocean City. The key solution was a combination of new bridges and bypass roads.

We first need a new river crossing to divert interstate traffic around D.C. Adding glare screens on top of the highway concrete medians will immediately improve traffic flow. Improving the major thoroughfares to avoid the need for local use of highways through better light synchronization and eliminating unnecessary turn lanes and vehicle parking will help, too.

Our officials lack observation and creativity. For example, the evening northbound gridlock at the American Legion Bridge would immediately decrease by utilizing the shoulder lane until River Road. Little changes can add up to a lot. And, in the wake of this crisis, Baltimore and Maryland residents deserve all the help they can get.

Paul M. Goldberg, Potomac

The stars and stripes of the American flag are painted on the Francis Scott Key buoy, which bobs up and down in the Patapsco River. It marks the spot, not far from the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge, where Key was inspired by the 1814 Battle of Fort McHenry to write a poem that would be later set to music and become our national anthem. This being the case, “Anthem Bridge” is an appropriate historic, patriotic, respectful and geographically sensitive name for the new bridge once it is built.

Mel Tansill, Catonsville

Petula Dvorak’s March 29 Metro column, “Before span fell, workers held up a nation,” about the six workers who died in the Francis Scott Key Bridge calamity, was an elegant tribute to immigrant families who have meant so much to the growth and stability of our nation. Against the backdrop of increasing attacks against such families, we must not forget what has given the country its success and character. Here’s to the farm workers in the fields. Here’s to the construction workers laboring on buildings and bridges. Here’s to the richness these families have contributed to the American character. And here’s to Ms. Dvorak for reminding us once again how much the country owes to the presence of immigrants.

Roger A. Bruns, Reston

It is ironic that we pay tribute to the six men who died on the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore while many people direct rage against the number of immigrants crossing our borders seeking the same opportunities and dreams that these men pursued before their deaths. So many in our country look down in disdain on manual labor, whether it’s construction, fieldwork, landscaping or housecleaning, and yet rely on immigrants who are willing to do those jobs.

With the exception of Native Americans, whose ancestors were here before any of us, we are all — even former presidents who denigrate new arrivals — descendants of immigrants coming to this country for a better life. As Americans, we are many things. But perhaps the most obvious and ugliest: We are a nation of hypocrites.

Michael Miller, Springfield

The March 29 news article “Republicans try to connect tragedy to illegal immigration, DEI policies” framed remarks from Republicans about the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge as scandalous. A nonpartisan view might see it differently.

The article quoted Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) criticizing Biden administration infrastructure spending as mostly “Green New Deal” efforts rather than improvements to bridges and roads, while Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) and others accused Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg of being “worried too much about DEI policies” and “racial equity.” People of good faith in both political parties might disagree about whether the Biden administration is spending too much on so-called Green New Deal or racial equity projects and not enough on critical infrastructure.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), described as “a far-right member of Congress who has promoted baseless and debunked claims,” speculated that the collision was “an intentional attack.” In a broadcast shortly after the bridge collapsed, Fox Business Network host Maria Bartiromo suggested that terrorism was a possibility. Their hypothesizing was not baseless. As The Post itself reported, Maryland transportation officials had long feared terrorism attacks on the bridge, though not specifically from the sea.

And the article cited Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union, who, while disclaiming any seafaring expertise, mused about the problem of drug use among the workforce. That’s not a completely crazy thing to say given recent cases in which cargo ship captains operated their vessels while intoxicated.

The investigation is in its early stages. It will be weeks if not longer before we know why the Dali container ship collided with the Key Bridge. In the absence of clear facts, politicians and talking heads of both parties always take to the air to speculate and pander to their base voters. Their party affiliations, or history of inflammatory statements, do not mean they should automatically be dismissed.

Joseph A. Capone, Oakton

In Stan Heuisler’s excellent March 29 letter, “Baltimore is no backwater,” he mentions the role the city played in manufacturing Liberty ships, which played a critical role during World War II. These vessels carried 80 percent of everything we shipped around the world during the conflict. Without them, Britain would have starved and Winston Churchill’s single greatest fear — losing the Battle of the Atlantic, which ran from 1939 through 1945 — would have been realized. Britain and then “neutral” Ireland would have been crushed by the Germans. After the war, Europe would have starved. Franklin D. Roosevelt referred to the Liberty ships as “ugly ducklings.” But they didn’t look like that to the places and people where the vessels sailed and always in harm’s way, bringing food and military and civilian supplies.

The collapse of the Key Bridge has endangered one of our few remaining links to this period. I serve on the board of the S.S. John W. Brown, one of the last two fully operational Liberty ships. The Brown, however, is now in great danger. The ship’s crew and owners depend on donations, hard and technically demanding volunteer work to maintain the 81-year-old vessel and two World War II cruises per year. Volunteers have, cumulatively, put 2 million hours of unpaid work toward keeping the ship afloat.

With the Key Bridge disaster, the Brown, which is moored next to the first nuclear-powered merchant ship in the world, the N.S. Savannah, is trapped without a way to earn money to keep the ship afloat, and in mortal peril. Consider this a public call to “SOS — Save Our Ship!” and a vital part of the nation’s history.

Peter I. Hartsock, Laytonsville, Md.