The other, the privately owned Oldtown Low Water Toll Bridge, connects Maryland and West Virginia, far upstream.

[7] The bridge is narrow (one 11-foot (3.4 m) lane in each direction with no shoulders), steep (up to 3.75 percent grade), and has a reduced speed limit (50 mph (80 km/h) on the main span, even slower through the southbound toll gates and plaza).

[8] By contrast, the approach roads on both sides of the bridge feature four 12-foot (3.7 m) lanes (2 in each direction), full shoulders, and 55 mph (89 km/h) speed limits.

[21] On November 21, 2013, Governor Martin O’Malley announced that the MDTA Board has approved an additional $50 million in its final six-year capital program (FY 2014 – FY 2019) to fund initial design and right-of-way acquisition for the project to replace the Governor Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge (US 301), which connects Charles County, Maryland and King George County, Virginia, across the Potomac River.

[25] One of the major redesign choices was the removal of the multi-use path for pedestrians and bicycles, citing low projected usage; in its stead, Will Pines, chief engineer of the MDTA, states that the bridge will be open for cyclists to share the lane with motor vehicles, similar to the present arrangement on the Thomas J. Hatem Bridge on US 40.

[27] However, bicycle advocacy groups, which include Potomac Heritage Trail Association, Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Association and Oxon Hill Bicycle and Trail Club, allege in a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, that state agencies, including the MDTA, violated state and federal environmental review laws by changing the project from its original conception and failing to study the impact of demolishing the bridge.

[28] The future of the old bridge fell to U.S. District Judge Deborah L. Boardman, who declined to issue an injunction blocking the demolition Tuesday, October 11, 2022, saying after a three-hour hearing that the groups had not met standards to halt the plans — a pause the state estimated would cost taxpayers $21,500 each day.

The decision appeared to end a years-long dispute, part of a battle over how to accommodate non-drivers on a major river crossing that was designed to last a century.