3,200-acre field providing for air travel to all parts of the
globe. At a cost of $15,000,000, Baltimore had one of the
largest airports in the United States.

A great road and bridge building program began with
the end of World War II. Agreements reached in 1947 to
survey ground and water for a bridge over the Chesapeake
made probable an ambitious scheme, talked of for over
forty years. On November 3, 1949, the first actual work
on such a bridge began, culminating in its opening July 30,
1952. The result is a four-mile structure (over seven if
approach roads are considered) with suspension spans
allowing for craft to a height of 187 feet. Nearly two
thousand vehicles an hour can cover the six-minute trip.
A year after opening over $3,500,000 had been paid in
tolls; the cost, covered by a bond issue, was $45,000,000.
By December, 1952, the Washington-Annapolis Freeway
was opened between Routes 50 and 301; the new bridge
across the Severn was opened in June, 1953, to provide a
direct link between the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and the
freeway. Eventually dual highways will run between the
Delaware State line and the District of Columbia and
Virginia. A portion of the Baltimore-Washington express-
way between Jessups and the Baltimore City line is already
open; the remainder of the road to the District line is under
construction. Another fine road, connecting the District
and Frederick, will replace Route 240. To further facilitate
traffic, authorization has been given to build an under-
harbor tunnel from Fairfield to Canton to cost $40,000,000
for tunnel construction alone.

Various State institutions, particularly those for medical
and mental care, have undergone great improvements. Two
of the three authorized units of the chronic disease hos-
pitals have been opened, one in Wicomico County and the
second in Baltimore. A third is to be erected in Washing-
ton County. The University of Maryland has opened a
100-bed Psyshiatric Institute in Baltimore and a 300-bed
hospital for tubercular patients is provided at Mt. Wilson.
Under construction are an institute for psychopathic delin-
quents and one for the criminally insane.