Harbor Tunnel

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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

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.

It sounds like a waterproof miracle.Roland W. Bark has heard the radio commercials many times. You probably have, too.A leak springs in the plumbing. The house starts to flood. A panicky son home alone calls his father.Dad, on his car phone, saves the day by telling his half-wit progeny how to find the water cutoff valve as he's driving under Baltimore Harbor.The fictional father ponders: What's more amazing, my goofball son (we paraphrase slightly) figuring out how to turn off the water, or the technology that permits a phone conversation in a tunnel?

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.

As of 9 a.m. Tuesday, traffic was slow on I-895 northbound at the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel, due to an accident involving two vehicles. Accidents were slowing traffic on the outer loop of the Baltimore Beltway at I-795 in Baltimore County, on the inner loop of the Baltimore Beltway at I-795 in Baltimore County and on I-95 northbound at the Baltimore-Washington Parkway. Hurley Avenue is closed near Wilkens Avenue in Baltimore due to emergency repair work under way on a broken sewer main.

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.

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.

As of 10 a.m. Monday, one of two eastbound lanes of the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel was closed and traffic was moving slowly due to a collision. On the Bay Bridge, one of the two eastbound lanes was closed due to debris in the road. Otherwise, no major accidents were reported on Baltimore area highways. No delays have been reported on mass transit systems.

As of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, an accident on southbound I-895 caused all but one lane to be closed leading to the Harbor Tunnel, creating heavy traffic delays. An accident on northbound I-95 near Route 24 caused traffic to be slow there. Otherwise, no major accidents were reported on Maryland highways. Many streets around the Mount Royal cultural district in midtown Baltimore have been closed in preparation for the Artscape festival this weekend. No delays have been reported on mass transit systems.

Baltimore Public Works crews have fixed a 20-inch water main break that flooded roads Tuesday night near the Harbor Tunnel. The break was repaired about 7:45 a.m. Wednesday and is not expected to affect the morning commute, according to a Public Works spokesman. Keith Avenue in Southeast Baltimore was closed about 6 p.m. after a break happened at the joining of an old and new main. The road reopened about three hours later. Crews shut off water valves and worked overnight to repair the break.

As of 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, an accident on southbound I-895 caused all but one lane to be closed leading to the Harbor Tunnel, creating heavy traffic delays. An accident on northbound I-95 near Route 24 caused traffic to be slow there. Otherwise, no major accidents were reported on Maryland highways. Many streets around the Mount Royal cultural district in midtown Baltimore have been closed in preparation for the Artscape festival this weekend. No delays have been reported on mass transit systems.

Myron O. "Mike" Beatty, a retired paint company executive, died June 26 of complications from pulmonary fibrosis at Homewood at Plum Creek in Hanover, Pa. The former Lutherville resident was 84. He was born in a caretaker's house at the Concord Cemetery in Grove City, Ohio. Family members said his parents were tenant farmers and he was expected to contribute to the family finances. As a boy, he helped deliver movie reels to theaters for the Film Transit Co. As a part of the job, he saw new releases and occasionally met film stars.