ANNAPOLIS — Motorists can expect “very serious backups” on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge beginning tomorrow when the state closes a second lane of the westbound span to speed up replacement of defective concrete, Transportation Secretary Robert Flanagan said.
“The next few weeks are going to be extremely difficult for all of us who use the Chesapeake Bay Bridge,” he said.
Traffic backups can be expected at both ends of the bridge Mondays through Thursdays, depending on the flow of traffic and how well transportation police can move traffic on the three lanes of the eastbound and westbound spans that will remain open, Mr. Flanagan said.
The state is in a race with the weather to replace 12,000 feet of deteriorating concrete in the left lane of the westbound span that was installed in the fall of 2002 and the spring of 2003. The bad concrete has been removed, and the left lane can’t be opened to traffic until it is repaved.
“We have to complete the work before winter, or we’ll lose the use of the left lane for the entire winter,” Mr. Flanagan said.
The state has been closing the center lane after 10 p.m. and working through the night to repave the left lane. Beginning tomorrow, the center lane will be closed Mondays through Thursdays at 10 a.m. and stay closed until the following morning, when it will reopen for rush-hour traffic at 5 a.m. It will be closed at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 10 p.m. Sundays.
The work will “create the possibility of extremely lengthy backups at either end of the bridge,” Mr. Flanagan said. He said motorists should use alternate routes if possible or consider scheduling trips across the bridge at a time when more lanes are open.
The state has doubled the crews working on the bridge to speed up the work, but “all the crews in the world won’t take care of things if we don’t have good weather,” Mr. Flanagan said.
The concrete mixture used to repave the left lane can’t be poured if the temperature is below 42 degrees, if it is too windy or if it is raining.
AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John White said, “A very bad situation continues to get worse.
“The most frustrating part is that clearly there have been some mistakes, and very little information about those mistakes is being given,” he said.
Mr. Flanagan said his agency does not have answers yet about the reason for the failure of the concrete on the left lane, who was responsible and who will pay the more than $7 million that it will cost to tear up and replace the concrete.
“We will vigorously represent the state’s interest in dealing with anyone that is responsible for the cracking concrete,” Mr. Flanagan said.
The center lane will be closed only on days when weather permits pouring of concrete. The Maryland Transportation Authority also will continue to close all three lanes of the westbound span overnight, turning the two-lane eastbound span into a two-way bridge.
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