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Traffic backs up Saturday on U.S. 301 near Dahlgren, heeding the detour for road work farther north on the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. |
By MELISSA NIX
A major highway construction project finishing ahead of schedule in the Washington area is like a Hollywood movie. None of that stuff happens in real life.
But yesterday, it did happen. The Woodrow Wilson Bridge project finished paving ramps to new lanes on the Capital Beltway 23 hours ahead of schedule, said Virginia Department of Transportation spokesman Ryan Hall.
The weekend work's 57-hour schedule, which allowed for contingencies such as late deliveries and machinery breakdowns, anticipated finishing in time for this morning's commute. But by 6 a.m. yesterday, motorists were again flying down Interstates 95 and 495 and across the Potomac River bridge with ease.
That wasn't the case Friday night and all day Saturday. Two of the bridge's three eastbound lanes were closed after Friday's evening rush hour. Northbound traffic on I-95 slowed to a snail's pace.
In anticipation of 10- to 15-mile-long traffic snarls caused by the lanes' closure, authorities had warned motorists up and down the East Coast to stay away from the construction zone this weekend. Public service announcements broadcast on radio and TV stations got the message out. And motorists cooperated, staying away from the work zone or taking alternate routes that span the Potomac.
"People staying off that road really did help," said Ryan Hall, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation.
"Part of the success [of the project] was motorists heeding the warning from VDOT and the Woodrow Wilson project's staff," he said.
But Hall also had a word of caution.
"We hope motorists don't have a false sense of security next time because it went so well [this weekend] the only reason it went so well is because everyone did listen."
Motorists can expect similar lane closures in two to four weeks--this time on the Maryland side of the Wilson Bridge, project spokesman John Undeland told The Associated Press.
During this weekend's construction, U.S. 301 through Caroline and King George counties became the I-95 detour of choice.
Northbound long-haul motorists were especially encouraged to take U.S. 301 to cross the river.
But at 3:45 p.m. Saturday, even that detour became impassible--and U.S. 301 traffic became backed up for hours, well into the night.
A woman reportedly drove a brown Ford Taurus onto the U.S. 301 bridge, parked it, got out, and jumped into the Potomac River, according to officials at the La Plata barracks of the Maryland State Police.
But yesterday afternoon, officials with the Maryland State Police declined to elaborate on the incident.
Cpl. Pamela Thorn of the Maryland Transportation Authority Police, which controls the state's bridges, confirmed that someone abandoned a car on the Gov. Harry W. Nice Memorial Bridge.
She said she could neither confirm nor deny that someone jumped into the river.
"The investigation is continuing," Thorn said.
Traffic on U.S. 301 remained backed up until 9:30 p.m. Saturday because of the incident, said Tina Jordan, travel counselor at the Potomac Gateway Welcome Center near the Nice bridge.
Even yesterday, after the Woodrow Wilson Bridge reopened all of its lanes, U.S. 301 traffic continued to be unusually heavy. Traffic was backed up west of the U.S. 301 bridge for a mile.
"Transportation authorities recommended we route people to U.S. 301 to avoid an expected 10- to 15-mile backup until Monday morning at 5 a.m.," Sabrina Conte, a traffic producer with Metro Networks/Shadow Broadcast Services, said early yesterday evening.
Apparently, not enough motorists heard the good news about the bridge work's early completion.
"So everyone's still taking this route and the two-lane bridge over the Potomac," Conte said. "It's not catastrophic, but it is heavier than normal."
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