A state legislator’s idea for another bridge across the James River won’t be moving forward this year.

Del. Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg, had introduced House Joint Resolution No. 5, which would have directed the Virginia Department of Transportation to, by next January, study the “need and options” for a bridge connecting Surry and James City counties.

The bill stalled in the House of Delegates’ Committee on Rules.

“Virginians deserve better than this,” Taylor said in a Feb. 12 statement. “We were elected to serve our communities. Instead, many of my colleagues in the House of Delegates have decided to play political games. Surry County residents want information about the potential impacts a bridge would bring to our community. This study does not initiate bridge construction; it simply gave sun a better picture of how it would impact our community.”

Taylor’s proposal had called for the bridge’s Surry side to begin at Hog Island, a state wildlife management area near Dominion Energy’s nuclear power plant.

Surry drivers have long relied on the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry for transit across the river. VDOT operates the ferry around the clock at no cost to motorists. Renee Chapline of Surry County Economic Development and Walter Hardy Jr., the Bacon’s Castle District representative on Surry’s Board of Supervisors, each said they supported the study, though they acknowledged they’d encountered opposition among some county residents.

Taylor was reelected in November to represent the newly created 82nd District, which as a result of redistricting in 2021 based on the 2020 Census now includes Petersburg, Surry and Prince George counties and part of Dinwiddie County.