Maryland transportation officials will beef up commuter bus service from Kent Island to Annapolis and Washington next week to help relieve congestion on the Bay Bridge as it undergoes an estimated 10 weeks of emergency repairs to its corroded barrier walls.
Gov. Martin O'Malley announced that starting Tuesday, the Maryland Transit Administration would add six weekday round trips to routes 922 and 950 from Kent Island.
The added buses are being brought into service after Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari ordered the closing this week of one of the two lanes of the bridge's eastbound span. Inspectors examining the bridge after a fatal Aug. 10 crash in which a tractor-trailer broke through the bridge wall found corrosion in the steel anchoring its concrete barriers, and Porcari decided that repairs would begin immediately.
O'Malley said yesterday that the new bus service is an effort to ease the impact on Eastern Shore commuters.
"By adding more express bus service to downtown Washington, transit can become an option for more people. Every driver riding a bus means one less car on the bridge, thus alleviating the potential impact of bridge congestion while the necessary repairs continue," O'Malley said in a statement.
The decision to add bus service came as the Maryland Transportation Authority rejected a call by an Eastern Shore state senator for an independent inspection of the Bay Bridge.
Ronald L. Freeland, the authority's executive secretary, said in response to the call from Republican Sen. E. J. Pipkin that the agency's inspection regimen already exceeds federal standards.
"We certainly respect Senator Pipkin's request for an independent safety inspection. However, we are confident that any inspection that meets industry standards would disclose that the bridge is in good condition and has no significant issues regarding its safety and structural integrity," Freeland said in an e-mailed statement.
After the Aug. 10 crash in which a tractor-trailer plunged into the bay, killing the driver, inspectors using ultrasound and ground-penetrating radar found that moisture has corroded some of the steel that binds the concrete barriers to the bridge's deck.
The authority's chief engineer said the corrosion could not have been detected by routine visual inspection. Pipkin said the findings had undermined his faith in the inspection process.
