Bridge work bodes bad for weekend

If you try to cross the Woodrow Wilson Bridge this weekend, fill up on gas and bring a good book: Road work is expected to create a 15-mile backup.

“It’s going to be rough, and the temperatures are going to be high,” Joan Morris, a Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman, said yesterday.

The delays are expected to last as long as 90 minutes, and could be insufferable if the weather forecast of 90-degree temperatures, high humidity and rain is accurate.

“It’s going to be pretty muggy and hot,” said Sarah Allen of the National Weather Service in Sterling, Va. “There’s going to be heavy rain involved.”

The expected delays are part of a critical phase in the 11-year, $2.44 billion bridge construction project, which has crews shifting the lanes of the Outer Loop of the Capital Beltway this weekend to accommodate new spans and work on the Washington Street overpass.

Beginning today at 8 p.m., the Outer Loop will be reduced to one lane from the Route 1 interchange to the Wilson Bridge, and the ramps from Route 1 to the Outer Loop will be closed.

Officials will also try to reduce traffic from Virginia approaching the 71/2 miles of roadwork by closing an entrance ramp at the Springfield Interchange, where the Beltway meets Interstate 95.

However, the I-95 high-occupancy vehicle lane, usually designated for southbound traffic at night and on weekends, will be open to northbound motorists this weekend, said John Undeland, a spokesman for the construction project.

The change will create southbound delays for motorists heading to Virginia Beach and elsewhere but will alleviate some of the northbound “pain,” he said.

Local traffic will be diverted to I-395 and the 14th Street Bridge, and through traffic will be routed to the American Legion Bridge.

The Maryland State Highway Administration is advising motorists traveling north from the Richmond area to take Route 301.

“This is so major that the best advice is …now is the time to change your plans,” Miss Morris said. “Don’t get yourself stuck on [Interstate] 95 in the middle of the day Saturday. That is going to be worst.”

The project is expected to be completed by Monday at 5 a.m. barring major problems. If rain becomes heavy and sustained, officials will delay the project until another weekend this summer.

Miss Morris and Mr. Undeland said a thunderstorms typical for this area will most likely not delay the project.

A similar project on the Inner Loop is scheduled for later this summer.

Virginia officials will make a final decision today at 6 p.m. about proceeding with this weekend’s project, based upon weather forecasts.

Miss Morris said Virginia transportation officials padded the completion time to allow for traffic accidents and other problems. She also said the closed lanes can be reopened to “flush out the traffic,” if an emergency occurs.

If all goes smoothly, the project could end Sunday afternoon.

The closings and delays are expected to have near and far-reaching consequences because I-95, which loops around the District as I-495, is the major route between Florida and New England.

“If you’re planning on heading to New York, think about going Friday,” Miss Morris said. “If you cannot, think about leaving at 4 or 5 a.m.”

Alexandria is the closest city to the project and is expected to have the worst traffic problems.

“We know it’s coming and we’re ready,” said Amy Bertsch, an Alexandria Police Department spokeswoman. “We know this is going to be a big one, but there’s no other way to do it.”

Alexandria officials also said they will put officers at Duke Street and Telegraph Road, which connects to I-495.

Crews will lay as much as 24 inches of steaming, 300-degree asphalt during the 57-hour project, created to ease traffic on the bridge, which crosses the Potomac River and connects Virginia to Maryland.

Lon Anderson, a AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman, said the bridge is already the biggest traffic “choke point” on the Beltway, with an average 200,000 cars crossing it daily.

The organization named the bridge one of the worst bottlenecks in the country, even without construction.

“This is going to be as bad a traffic jam as we’ve seen in our region for a long time,” he said. “It’s hard to understate this. You just need to stay the heck away from it.”

This is hardly the first time motorists have been warned.

Virginia officials have a campaign that has alerted motorists from as far away as the Outer Banks. They also have created a Web site, worked with Maryland officials and others to make radio and TV spots, helped reporters inform the public and are using highway signs to warn and advise motorists. They hoped such efforts will reduce traffic by 50 percent this weekend.

Those approaching the project or stuck in a backup can listen to 1620 AM for regular traffic updates.

The Virginia State Police will have troopers in the area and have an emergency Beltway-evacuation plan if needed.

Mr. Anderson said the road work is aggravating but necessary to improve the bottleneck.

“This is part of what it takes to get to motorist heaven,” he said. “And to make everything better, we have to experience gridlock purgatory first.”