text: Impact Since its construction, the bridge has made significant impacts on both sides of the bay; among them has been the growth of Eastern Shore communities. When the bridge opened in 1952, and again when the second span was added in 1973, the Eastern Shore was given easier access to Baltimore and Washington, causing areas in southern Queen Anne's County to develop as bedroom communities. This extension of the Baltimore–Washington suburbs has led Queen Anne's County to be listed as part of the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area. The bridge has also given easier access to Ocean City from the Western Shore, which has caused Ocean City to grow from a small town to one that is said to become the second largest city in Maryland during the summer.
  In 1948, the impending completion of the bridge gave rise to an extension of US 50 to Ocean City. The route was extended along the corridor of Maryland Route 404 (MD 404) and a large portion of US 213, cutting both of those routes back. During the 1950s, US 50 on the Western Shore was rerouted onto the long-proposed Annapolis–Washington Expressway (now known as the John Hanson Highway), which was built at the time in order to provide better access to the bridge. As the Eastern Shore, particularly Ocean City, grew, further upgrades and realignments of US 50 took place. This work included the aforementioned 1973 completion of the second Bay Bridge span, the extension of the US 50 freeway eastward to the US 50/US 301 split in Queenstown, and the construction of a freeway bypass around the north side of Salisbury in 2002. Additionally, the road has been upgraded and realigned over the years from its original two-lane configuration to a four-lane divided highway, with the last such section being in Vienna, bypassed in 1991. Previous plans to expand US 50's freeway portion and replace the aging Harry W. Kelley Memorial Bridge into Ocean City have been delayed.