Get Over It: Revive Water Transport

Dear Bay Weekly:

Your editorial about crossing the Bay [Chesapeake Challenge: A Way Across It: Vol. xv, No. 20: May 17] raised a serious issue. But what makes us think building bridges is the only answer? Why not bring back water transport? Ferries, hydrofoils and other watercraft could disperse growth in ways that would make it more manageable. New destination areas along the Bay could be more thoughtfully planned and even some commuter routes developed. Before the Bay Bridge, ferries, steamboats and excursion boats serviced the Bay well. Rails and trolleys offered additional land mobility.

Regional growth and the lure of the Bay and the ocean are a given. When will we stop assuming rubber tires are the only way to get around, freeing our imaginations to plan for a more flexible, adaptable, smart future? Think of our watery heritage and all the ways we could be moving around the Bay.

—Farley Peters, Fairhaven Cliffs

Reviewer, Take a Bow

Dear Bay Weekly:

Congratulations on obtaining the services of Davina Grace Hill, a marvelous reviewer and excellent writer. I so enjoyed her review of Colonial Players’ Moon Over Buffalo [http://bayweekly.com/reviews2007.html]. She obviously knows theater and made wonderful observations on theater-in-the-round as well as the characters and actors. I look forward to reading her reviews again, and until next theater season, hope you assign her other articles. I am sure they would be equally delightful reading.

—Lily Grace Hudson, Gambrills

Editor’s note: Look for Hill’s review of Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre’s Godspell in this week’s paper.

Bus Stops Offend with Advertising

Dear Bay Weekly:

Annapolis Transportation Department bus stops and adjoining free-standing kiosks have placed the first advertising billboards in Southern Anne Arundel County. Their content is shocking at the library in Deale and at the Children’s Learning Center at the Lula Scott Center in Shady Side. Yet these commercials are brought to our community by our own government. 

Among them:

• An R-rated movie (I Killed My Wife) billboard proclaiming violence against women is showcased at the library.

• McDonalds advertises its products at the entrance to the Children’s Early Learning Center at the Lula Scott Center.

The adjoining kiosk with three lighted advertising panels is not only intrusive to our community but also showcases three pesticide advertisements.

Bus transportation benefits all. We should subsidize it and the stops directly to support our transportation mix. Any billboards should be devoted to community notices. We have, by the way, no community center.

Offended citizens should work to remove these inappropriate advertisements.

—Mike Shay, Churchton