Mary K. Tilghman of Catonsville and Cherry M. Sparks, spokeswoman for the Maryland Transportation Authority, must have known it's my birthday. As a present, they got together and wrote most of my column for me.
Well, they didn't actually get together. But when Tilghman wrote in with a great question and Sparks sent an informative reply, putting the two together seemed like a natural way to take it easy.
Tilghman's query:
What causes the 8-, 10- or 11-mile backups on the Bay Bridge westbound at the end of a holiday weekend?
I got caught in a long tie-up over Memorial Day and couldn't figure it out. The traffic pouring onto [U.S.] 50 from 404 wasn't heavy. There were no accidents, not even flashing police lights on the side of the road to attract drivers' attention. No lane closures. The weather was pleasant.
Sunset wasn't an issue yet. So why did traffic slow down to 15 miles an hour, more or less, from somewhere around the Queenstown Outlets to the Bay Bridge?
Of course, the minute we crossed the bridge, the speed of traffic raced back up to normal. ... Is it really the beauty of the Chesapeake Bay as we cross the bridge that's slowing us down?
I put the question to Sparks, who replied in part:
Your reader indicates she was traveling on Memorial Day. It appears a majority of drivers heading home from the Shore traveled during peak traffic times. We also had some disabled vehicles and a crash that contributed to westbound delays.
What often happens on long holiday weekends, like Memorial weekend, is that some of the traffic heading to the Shore leaves on Thursday evening and some on Friday evening. This tends to spread the traffic out. But on the return trip at the end of the weekend, when everyone is heading to the Bay Bridge at the same time, traffic volumes can grow very quickly for a number of reasons.
Most hotel check-out times are around 10 to 11:00 A.M. Once people check out, they start their westbound trek home. The result is huge traffic volumes reaching the bridge at the same time.
Motorists traveling westbound across the bridge, going toward Sandy Point Beach, tend to look out at the water and the beautiful view surrounding them. This, in itself, causes traffic to slow, and the rolling slow down begins. While the views of the water and Sandy Point are being enjoyed by so many, more traffic keeps coming. As your reader suggests, the sheer beauty of the bay can be a factor in traffic delays.
