The Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge carries Interstate 95 (I-95) over the

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

between

Cecil County Cecil County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland at the northeastern corner of the state, bordering both Pennsylvania and Delaware. As of the 2020 census, the population was 103,725. The county seat is Elkton. The county was ...

and

Harford County Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

, Maryland. The

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or ''toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road. ...

carries 29 million vehicles annually. It is upstream from the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge, which carries the parallel U.S. Route 40 (US 40). The bridge is named for

Millard Tydings Millard Evelyn Tydings (April 6, 1890February 9, 1961) was an American attorney, author, soldier, state legislator, and served as a Democratic Representative and Senator in the United States Congress from Maryland, serving in the House from 19 ...

(1890–1961), a longtime political figure in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

who served as U.S. Senator from 1927 to 1951. It was built between January 1962 and November 1963 between bluffs high above the river valley, and is posted with warning signs "Subject to

Crosswind A crosswind is any wind that has a perpendicular component to the line or direction of travel. This affects the aerodynamics of many forms of transport. Moving non-parallel to the wind's direction creates a crosswind component on the object and th ...

s." It was dedicated, along with the highway it carries, by U.S. president

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination ...

on November 14, eight days before he was assassinated in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. The next year, the highway was renamed the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway. It is one of eight toll facilities operated by the

Maryland Transportation Authority The Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) is an independent state agency responsible for financing, constructing, operating, and maintaining eight transportation facilities, currently consisting of two toll roads, two tunnels, and four bridge ...

. The toll, levied on northbound traffic only, is $8.00 for two-axle vehicles as of July 1, 2013; larger vehicles pay another $8 per additional axle. In March 2020, the remaining toll collectors were replaced with electronic tolling because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, with tolls payable through

E-ZPass E-ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the Eastern United States, Midwestern United States, and Southern United States. The E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) consists of member agencie ...

Video Tolling Video tolling (sometimes referred to as video billing, toll by plate, pay by mail, or pay by plate) is a form of electronic toll collection, which uses video or still images of a vehicle's license plate to identify a vehicle liable to pay a road ...

, which uses

automatic license plate recognition Automatic number-plate recognition (ANPR; see also other names below) is a technology that uses optical character recognition on images to read vehicle registration plates to create vehicle location data. It can use existing closed-circuit tel ...

. All-electronic tolling was made permanent in August 2020. The bridge was closed during

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

on October 30, 2012, perhaps the first time it was ever shut down.

References

External links

Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge on Google Street View
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Bridges , place =

, bridge = Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Conowingo Dam The Conowingo Dam (also Conowingo Hydroelectric Plant, Conowingo Hydroelectric Station) is a large hydroelectric dam in the lower Susquehanna River near the town of Conowingo, Maryland. The medium-height, masonry gravity dam is one of the larges ...

, upstream signs = , downstream =

CSX Susquehanna River Bridge The CSX Susquehanna River Bridge is a railroad bridge that carries CSX's Philadelphia Subdivision across the Susquehanna River between Havre de Grace and Perryville, Maryland, via Garrett Island. It was built in 1907-10 by the Baltimore and Oh ...

, downstream signs = Bridges completed in 1963 Bridges over the Susquehanna River Buildings and structures in Havre de Grace, Maryland Toll bridges in Maryland Monuments and memorials in Maryland Tolled sections of Interstate Highways Road bridges in Maryland Interstate 95 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Bridges in Cecil County, Maryland Bridges in Harford County, Maryland Steel bridges in the United States

See also

References

External links