12-05-2023 4:49am

TAKE YOUR TOYS

Join the Maryland Transportation Authority (MDTA) Police, MDTA staff and the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves next week for the 2023 Toys for Tots campaign. This is the 34th consecutive year the MDTA Police have supported the annual effort.

In Baltimore, MDTA officers will collect new, unwrapped toys Tuesday, December 5, through Thursday, December 7, from 6 to 9 a.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Baltimore Harbor and Fort McHenry* tunnels (I-895, I-95), the Francis Scott Key Bridge (I-695) and the Dundalk Marine Terminal. Additionally, officers will collect toys at sites across Maryland including the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial (Bay) Bridge (US 50/301), the Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial/Senator Thomas “Mac” Middleton Bridge (US 301), the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge (US 40) and the Intercounty Connector (MD 200).**

Toll facility customers who wish to donate toys should stay right and follow directions from Santa, uniformed MDTA police officers and MDTA staff. Sites at the Bay, Key, Hatem and Nice/Middleton bridges will be near the former toll plaza locations. The MDTA Police remind drivers to keep safety in mind as they approach toy drop-off sites.

Since 1990, MDTA employees have collected more than 171,000 toys and $144,000 from generous customers of Maryland’s toll facilities and the Port of Baltimore.

*Toy collections at the Fort McHenry Tunnel (I-95) will take place at the DriveEzMD Customer Service Center located near Exit 56 (Keith Avenue) at 3990 Leland Avenue.

**Toy collections at the Intercounty Connector (MD 200) will continue to take place at the Layhill Road (MD 182) interchange.

The Maryland Transportation Authority Police, a nationally accredited force, is the eighth-largest law enforcement agency in the State with more than 500 sworn and civilian law enforcement professionals. MDTA Police Officers provide law enforcement services at the MDTA’s highways, bridges and tunnels, at BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, and at the Port of Baltimore.