Memorial Bridge

NEW CASTLE, Del. - The Delaware section of the highway starts here, at the western base of the Memorial Bridge amid a confusing welter of exits and entrances, fly-over ramps and directional signs. At the southern tip of the Philadelphia-Wilmington megalopolis, Interstate 295 South bends northwest to meet Interstate 95, the East Coast's high-speed Main Street. Heading south, in a little more than 12 miles, I-95 cuts across the thinnest part of Delaware, from the edges of ugly urban sprawl to carefully landscaped campuses of exurban office complexes and finally to forests and farmhouses near the Maryland line.

As of 8 a.m. Friday I-95 northbound was closed at Tydings Memorial Bridge, due to an accident. Route 924 was closed between Vale Road and James Avenue in Harford County due to an accident. According to a State Police officer in Bel Air, a pedestrian was struck and killed by a motorist at that location at around 5:23 a.m. Friday. Additional information has not been released, pending notification of the victim's family. State police at the Glen Burnie Barrack say a two-vehicle crash on I-97 around 9:30 a.m. has since been cleared.

Predicting a need for more money for transportation projects, state officials want to double the tolls that drivers must pay to travel a portion of Interstate 95 and to cross two bridges in Maryland. The increases would take effect Nov. 1. The facilities are the Kennedy Highway (I-95) toll plaza at Perryville; the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge across the Potomac River on U.S. 301; and the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge across the Susquehanna River on U.S. 40. The Maryland Transportation Authority, which oversees and sets fees for the state's seven toll facilities, proposed the increases yesterday and is expected to take action at its next public meeting Sept.

Recent inspections have found "advanced deterioration" of the pier foundations of the Maryland Transportation Authority's two bridges over the Susquehanna River on Interstate 95 and U.S. 40 - forcing the agency to put repairs to the supporting structures on a fast track. Dennis Simpson, the authority's capital planning director, said the deterioration poses no immediate danger. "It's safe. We need to do the work to keep it safe," he said. "If it was a situation where the bridge couldn't stay open, we would have closed the bridge.

For most of us, the twin-span William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge is just a 4.3-mile shortcut over the Chesapeake Bay. And while contemporary travelers may take the trip between Sandy Point and Kent Island for granted, the structures - most people refer to them singly as "the Bay Bridge" - are a magnificent example of how a utilitarian amalgam of steel and concrete can produce art on a grand scale. Need proof? Just look at the black-and-white photographs of the first span taken in the early 1950s by A. Aubrey Bodine and Marion E. Warren.

Surveys to be distributed on Bay, Nice bridges The Maryland Transportation Authority will distribute travel surveys to motorists crossing the Bay Bridge and the Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge on Wednesday. The surveys were designed to track commuter patterns so that officials can determine the needs of the two bridges. Officials say they do not expect delays on the spans as a result of distributing the surveys.

PRIOR to the opening of the Delaware Memorial Bridge on Aug. 14, 1951, Baltimoreans drove to New York via old Route 40 (Old Philadelphia Road) through Elkton and into Delaware. (Those were the days when highways actually went through towns -- like Aberdeen, Md., and Glasgow and Bear, Del.) At New Castle, Del., motorists had to wait for the ferry across the Delaware River to Pennsville on the New Jersey side. Then it was north to the Big Apple.But as was the case with so many ferries, there simply got to be too many cars.

State transportation and highway officials advise motorists that the following projects are under way in the area:* Baltimore Harbor Tunnel (Interstate 895) -- All week, around the clock, there will be new traffic patterns on Md. 295, eastbound and westbound over I-895. From 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., road officials will maintain two-way traffic through one tube.* John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (Interstate 95) -- Today through Thursday, sunrise to sunset, and Friday, sunrise to noon, one lane may be closed in each direction on the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge.

State transportation officials are advising motorists that these roadway construction projects will be under way on area roads and toll bridges the remainder of the week:* John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway (Interstate 95) -- Today through Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 7:30 to 9 p.m., one lane may be closed on northbound and southbound I-95 between White Marsh Boulevard and Stepney Road. Between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., two lanes may be closed. All week, from sunrise to sunset, one lane may be closed in each direction on the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge.

These roadbuilding projects will affect motorists using state roads and toll facilities this week:* U.S. 1 northbound -- From Miller Road to Sheradale Drive, the right northbound lane will be closed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. today through Friday.* Interstate 95 North -- On the northbound roadway from the Beltway to White Marsh Boulevard, the fast lane will be closed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. today through Friday. The fast lane of the southbound roadway from White Marsh Boulevard to the Beltway will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today through Friday.

The Maryland Transportation Authority owns and operates seven toll facilities on behalf of the people of the state. All seven are all critical to Maryland's prosperity and mobility, but the crown jewel is the William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge - the Bay Bridge. Eight days ago, for the first time in the bridge's 56-year history, a vehicle broke through the walls of one of its spans and plunged into the water. The driver of the tractor-trailer, John Robert Short, died. Tens of thousands of Marylanders ended up stuck in traffic for hours on a busy Sunday.

The $56 million reconstruction of the Thomas J. Hatem Memorial Bridge across the Susquehanna River, which begins June 9, will disrupt traffic along the Route 40 corridor during the next three years. The entire deck on the nearly 1.5-mile span between Havre de Grace and Perryville will be replaced for the first time in its 70-year history. Crews will also repair substructure concrete piers, install a permanent concrete barrier in the center for the length of the bridge and widen the lanes slightly, by restructuring existing barrier walls.

Donna Beth Joy Shapiro has had "lifelong, recurring dreams of plunging off an enormous bridge." Earlier this year, she told a friend that one of her biggest fears was that her truck would die on the Bay Bridge. Two days later, she came face to face with that fear. Shapiro, a Bolton Hill resident, was one of several readers who answered the call in last week's column for stories of their experiences with immobility on bridges and tunnels with no shoulders for refuge. Shapiro writes that it was about 3:30 p.m. on a Sunday this spring, while she was driving in 50 mph traffic on the westbound span of the bridge, when "I smelled something acrid for about 30 seconds, and then my truck just stopped."

Responding to a federal appeal, Maryland's transportation secretary ordered last night new inspections of 10 Maryland bridges of a design similar to the Minnesota bridge that collapsed into the Mississippi River on Wednesday evening. Secretary John D. Porcari assured residents that the state's bridges are sound. "No Marylander should be concerned about the safety of our bridges," he said at a news conference earlier in the day. "When our bridges need repair, it's a priority. We make it happen."

As I drove north from the Delaware Memorial Bridge, I could feel my "R's" flying out the back vent windows, littering the road under the "Welcome to New Jersey" sign. The preposition "of" instantly changed to a simple "a," and I coulda sworn a buncha superlatives entered my brain, because as I closed my windows, I thought: "I'm gonna freeze if I don't put on a sweata, what is this, Antarctica?" It's what happens whenever I return to the state where I attended college, next to the land where I grew up, Long Island.

Gasoline prices in the region are at near-record levels. Hotel rates are up 13 percent since last year. The roads, bridges and tunnels are going to be crawling with police. And more Marylanders will be on the road this Memorial Day weekend than ever before. That's the forecast from AAA Mid-Atlantic and Maryland police agencies as they look forward to a weekend of near-perfect spring weather, lavish consumer spending and clogged transportation corridors. Mahlon G. "Lon" Anderson, a spokesman for AAA, told a news conference yesterday on Kent Island that the auto club's polling shows it should be a banner weekend for travel to Ocean City and other resorts close to the Baltimore-Washington region.

The state is constructing a commercial vehicle inspection and weigh station and a new state police barracks along Interstate 95 in Perryville northeast of the Millard E. Tydings Memorial Bridge over the Susquehanna River.And a new shopping center is being built on the property behind them.The inspection center will house the second truck and tractor-trailer weigh station in that area; the other is on U.S. 40 near the Thomas Hatem Memorial Bridge. The two stations will prevent truckers from taking alternative routes to avoid being inspected, said Jack Moeller, director of engineering for the Maryland Transportation Authority.

In Baltimore City Poll reveals race is tight for office of state's attorney The three candidates for Baltimore state's attorney are running neck-and-neck with less than three weeks to go before the primary election Sept. 10, according to a political poll released yesterday. Incumbent Patricia C. Jessamy has a slight advantage, with 29 percent of voters saying they favor her, according to the poll conducted by Annapolis-based Gonzales/Arscott Research & Communications. About 27 percent of those polled picked City Councilwoman Lisa Joi Stancil, and 26 percent selected Baltimore lawyer Anton J.S. Keating.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- Dan Ruefly's daily commuting experiences along the Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge - which included surviving an accident that left him with a crushed right hip - helped earn him the right to demolish a portion of the bridge Monday night as part of a contest to honor the motorist with the toughest daily drive. Yet his commute alone is enough to earn him empathy: A general manager for an electrical contracting company in Rockville, he travels two hours each way. He leaves home in Accokeek in southwest Prince George's County at 5 a.m. so he can reach the bridge by 6 and avoid compounding his commute with harrowing gridlock.

For most of us, the twin-span William Preston Lane Jr. Memorial Bridge is just a 4.3-mile shortcut over the Chesapeake Bay. And while contemporary travelers may take the trip between Sandy Point and Kent Island for granted, the structures - most people refer to them singly as "the Bay Bridge" - are a magnificent example of how a utilitarian amalgam of steel and concrete can produce art on a grand scale. Need proof? Just look at the black-and-white photographs of the first span taken in the early 1950s by A. Aubrey Bodine and Marion E. Warren.