Chesapeake city staff: Close Jordan Bridge by Nov. 1

The 80-year-old Jordan Bridge during a lift over the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River in September.
(Bill Tiernan | The Virginian-Pilot)

By Mike Saewitz
The Virginian-Pilot ©
October 8, 2008

CHESAPEAKE

City staff is recommending that the Jordan Bridge close by Nov. 1, and the City Council will decide the bridge's fate next week.

Chesapeake will also ask the Metropolitan Planning Organization next week for about $500,000 for a proposed express service from the bridge to downtown Portsmouth, where commuters would catch a bus to Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

After the council vote, drivers using the Jordan Bridge will be given information directing them to alternative routes including the Downtown Tunnel, the High-Rise Bridge on Interstate 64 and the Gilmerton Bridge on Military Highway, Public Works Department officials say.

Traffic is also expected to increase on George Washington Highway as shipyard workers from Chesapeake and northeastern North Carolina try to find a new route to Portsmouth, officials say.

Chesapeake leaders have said they would like to close the 80-year-old bridge by the end of the year. With Nov. 1 less than four weeks away, Public Works officials are hoping that more community meetings will help get out the word.

That date is not a done deal. Ultimately, the council will decide whether to go along with the staff recommendation, said Eric Martin, Chesapeake's interim Public Works director.

The Jordan Bridge carries about 7,000 vehicles each weekday. Roughly 2,000 are going to and from the shipyard.

An annual inspection of the bridge earlier this year revealed 10 critical problems that need to be re paired. The city released a report in August calling for the bridge's closure if $4 million in structural repairs were not made within the next year. Public Works officials said an additional $13 million in repairs would be needed within 10 years.

In community presentations and a media tour, city officials have made the case for closing the bridge by pointing out its rusted and corroded deck and support beams. That hasn't convinced everyone. Some residents say they want the city to spend money to repair it.

"They've been bent for years on closing the bridge," said Burnie Mansfield, secretary of the Chesapeake Port Authority and president of the Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations. "They're going to cause a lot of gridlock. When you're sitting in traffic, think about the people who closed the bridge."

Express bus service is not the only thing in the works to alleviate traffic. Traffix, an umbrella group at Hampton Roads Transit that promotes transportation alternatives, is looking at creating car pools and park-and-ride lots for shipyard workers.

Traffix may also lease 7-, 12- and 15-seat vans to shipyard employees, who may then charge others for a lift to work. Chesapeake has asked the HRT group to keep 15 of those vans on standby, said Traffix director Ron Hodges.

http://hamptonroads.com/2008/10/chesapeake-city-staff-close-jordan-bridge-nov-1

Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com