Harbor Tunnel

Baltimore's Harbor Tunnel Thruway and the water entrance to the Inner Harbor were closed last night and access to a wide area around Fairfield restricted as Army and police explosives experts examined large World War II-era munitions discovered near an old shipyard site. With no certainty of the danger posed by nine bombs and apparent triggering devices, authorities took the precaution of closing the 13-mile Interstate 895 highway, including the toll tunnel and an area above and around the site.

As of 8:30 a.m., a disabled vehicle is blocking the northbound side of the Harbor Tunnel, the Department of Transportation said. A collision on the northbound side of I-95 at Rt. 32 has closed two northbound lanes, the department said. There was also a collision on the eastbound side of I-70 at exit 91 near the Baltimore Beltway, DOT said, but all lanes were open as of 8:30 a.m. An earlier incident on the outer loop of I-695 in Baltimore County which closed the shoulder, has been cleared, according to DOT. Minor delays are possible on MARC trains between Edgewood and Aberdeen because of scheduled track work, DOT said.

A water main break that has caused at least one road to become impassable near the Harbor Tunnel Throughway Tuesday will likely not be repaired until Wednesday. Keith Avenue in southeast Baltimore was shut down after a water main break caused flooding in the area, said Kurt Kocher, Department of Public Works spokesman, though the road was later reopened around 9:3- p.m. He said a break in a 20 inch water main around 6 p.m. has caused "a lot of flooding," but the Harbor Tunnel has not been affected.

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, I-895 was closed in both directions at the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel in Baltimore City, due to an accident involving seven vehicles. Accidents were slowing traffic on Russell Street at Bayard Street in Baltimore City, Route 100 westbound near Catherine Avenue in Anne Arundel County, and Erdman Avenue and Parklawn Avenue in Baltimore City. Monument Street is closed between Wolfe Street and Patterson Park Avenue in East Baltimore, due to sinkhole repairs. Maryland Transit Administration bus 35 has been diverted.

Traffic on Interstate 895 north was delayed Wednesday afternoon after four vehicles collided about one mile south of the Harbor Tunnel, according to the Baltimore City Fire Department. Rescue personnel responded to the scene about 12:42 p.m. to find two pickup trucks and two cars heavily damaged in the roadway from a collision, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, a fire department spokesman. Two people in one of the cars were transported to Maryland Shock Trauma Center after being extricated from the car by rescue personnel, Cartwright said.

The most disruptive phase of the project to rebuild the bridge south of the Harbor Tunnel toll plaza is expected to begin Saturday and continue for two weeks. The four-lane Interstate 895 bridge will be narrowed to one lane in each direction as crews repair the steel structure and replace the concrete surface. Maryland Transportation Authority officials are asking motorists to use alternate routes, especially during rush hours, to avoid traffic snarls. A state traffic analysis predicted that backups could stretch up to four miles at times during the two-week period.

All traffic is being held at the Harbor Tunnel northbound due to an accident this afternooon. Motorists are advised to use the Fort McHenry Tunnel or Key Bridge as alternative routes. Originally published April 23, 2004, 3:11 PM EDT

The Harbor Tunnel Thruway, Interstate 895, will have one tunnel closed for maintenance between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m., today through Thursday.The second tunnel will be open for two-way traffic. Delays should be expected. The Maryland Transportation Authority suggests that travelers stay in the right lane and drive with caution.Pub Date: 1/19/97

One tube of the Harbor Tunnel Thruway will be closed after this evening's rush hour for repairs on a water main pipe that broke yesterday afternoon and forced traffic onto southbound Interstate 895, said a Maryland Transportation Authority spokeswoman.While the southbound tunnel is closed, traffic through the northbound tunnel will run in both directions, said Lori A. Vidil, the spokeswoman. She said the southbound tunnel should reopen by 5 a.m. tomorrow.The steel pipe, between the northbound and southbound tubes, broke shortly after noon, and about 6,000 gallons of water leaked into a collector area between the tunnels, Vidil said.

A man was killed today when his vehicle was crushed between a tractor-trailer and a dump truck in the southbound tube of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.State Toll Facilities spokesman Thomas Freeburger said the man's identity was not being released pending notification of his relatives.Mr. Freeburger said the victim was driving a Ford Bronco that stopped behind a tractor-trailer after another car broke down.While the vehicles were stopped, a dump truck crashed into the Bronco.The victim was crushed against the back end of the tractor-trailer and died at the scene, Mr. Freeburger said.

Traffic on Interstate 895 north was delayed Wednesday afternoon after four vehicles collided about one mile south of the Harbor Tunnel, according to the Baltimore City Fire Department. Rescue personnel responded to the scene about 12:42 p.m. to find two pickup trucks and two cars heavily damaged in the roadway from a collision, said Chief Kevin Cartwright, a fire department spokesman. Two people in one of the cars were transported to Maryland Shock Trauma Center after being extricated from the car by rescue personnel, Cartwright said.

The most disruptive phase of the project to rebuild the bridge south of the Harbor Tunnel toll plaza is expected to begin Saturday and continue for two weeks. The four-lane Interstate 895 bridge will be narrowed to one lane in each direction as crews repair the steel structure and replace the concrete surface. Maryland Transportation Authority officials are asking motorists to use alternate routes, especially during rush hours, to avoid traffic snarls. A state traffic analysis predicted that backups could stretch up to four miles at times during the two-week period.

It's amazing how quickly months of caked-on tunnel grime can be whisked away with a jug of Soot-B-Gone and a $250,000 Mercedes-Benz. The potent one-two punch is how the Maryland Transportation Authority keeps tiled walls in the Fort McHenry and Baltimore Harbor tunnels glistening from the beginning of April through Thanksgiving. For the overnight scrubbing operation, workers mix the anti-soot soap with hundreds of gallons of water and place the solution on the backs of two bug-eyed, German-engineered trucks called Unimogs.

The driver of a tractor-trailer that crashed on southbound Interstate 95 Wednesday evening has been charged with driving while impaired by alcohol, police said. Glenn Grise, 46, of West Orange, N.J., crashed a semitrailer around 8:15 p.m. on an overpass above Interstate 895, turning the truck over in the left lane of I-95, just north of the Harbor Tunnel, according to Sgt. Kirk Perez, a spokesman for the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. Grise's truck was registered to the New Jersey-based G. Grise Trucking company, Perez said.

As more people try to get an early jump on the holiday, Tuesday before Thanksgiving is becoming the new Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Tuesday isn't expected to be quite as busy as the nation's biggest travel day of the year, but if recent trends continue, it won't be far behind. At Maryland toll plazas, it's already soared past the Sunday after the holiday as the year's second busiest day. At airports, train stations and toll facilities, officials are expecting a surge in the number of travelers as Thanksgiving continues its inexorable transition from a holiday to a holi-week.

All lanes through the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel have been reopened since a burning tire on a car headed northbound earlier in the day led transportation officials to close the thoroughfare. The Maryland Transportation Authority quickly had reopened the southbound lanes, but for hours had detoured northbound lanes at Childs Street, the last exit for drivers before they enter the tunnel. Cheryl Sparks, a department spokeswoman, said the tire fire caused a lot of smoke but no injuries.

Theodore Louis Scott, who spent 26 years policing the 1.7-mile Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, died Tuesday of prostate cancer at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. He was 74. The son of Harry S. Scott, one of the first black officers to join the Baltimore police force, Theodore Scott was raised in Catonsville until his father joined the Police Department and moved the family to West Baltimore. Mr. Scott graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in 1946, attended Morgan State University and earned a law enforcement degree from Baltimore City Community College.

At least one person was injured yesterday evening when five vehicles, including a tractor-trailer, collided in the Harbor Tunnel, authorities said. The southbound tube was closed for maintenance at the time of the accident, about 7:30 p.m., and the open tube was handling traffic in both directions, police said. According to an initial account from police, the accident was triggered by one vehicle crossing the center line and colliding with an oncoming vehicle. Three other vehicles, including the tractor-trailer, also became involved.

On the north end of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, where northbound drivers emerge from the dark and southbound motorists descend into it, stands one of the oldest and most decrepit parts of Maryland's toll-financed transportation network. The bridge called the Canton Viaduct carries Interstate 895 for two-thirds of a mile over city streets and railroad tracks and ducks between the concrete pillars that support Interstate 95. The Maryland Transportation Authority has at least a half-dozen projects under way or soon to begin at the Harbor Tunnel, Fort McHenry Tunnel and Key Bridge.