After today, the Jordan Bridge's service comes to an end

Posted to: Chesapeake News Transportation and Traffic

Ways to beat the traffic
Buses: To take some of the traffic off the road, Hampton Roads Transit on Monday will begin a new bus route – “The Jordan Bridge Limited” – that will pick up riders at a park on the Chesapeake side of the bridge and take them to Portsmouth. Rides will cost $1.50 and will begin at 5:30 a.m. For more information, go to www.gohrt.com.

Carpools: Traffix, a group at Hampton Roads Transit that promotes transportation alternatives, plans to create carpools and park-and-ride lots for workers at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth.

If you drive: Planners forecast modest traffic increases at the Midtown and Downtown tunnels, the Gilmerton Bridge and the Interstate 64 High-Rise Bridge. About 7,000 drivers use the Jordan Bridge daily to cross the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River.

View Larger Map

By Mike Saewitz
The Virginian-Pilot
© November 7, 2008

CHESAPEAKE

The Jordan Bridge will endure its last commute today.

About 8 a.m. Saturday, the gates will be lowered. Workers will put up chain-link fences and concrete barriers on each side. A few hours later, a bridge tender will lock the middle span in place 145 feet above the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River.

About 7,000 drivers will have to find a new way to get across the river each weekday.

The City Council voted last month to close the Jordan after reports showed major structural issues that would have required millions of dollars in repairs.

Residents have fought the plan to close the bridge. One of them, Frank Lilley, said Thursday he was ready to accept it. "There's not a whole lot we can do," said Lilley, a former South Norfolk Civic League president.

Come next week, regional planning officials say, the Jordan's closing will modestly affect drivers passing through the usual Hampton Roads choke points, such as the Downtown and Midtown tunnels.

The real traffic nightmare could begin in July, when a project to replace the Gilmerton Bridge will reduce a section of Military Highway from four to two lanes for 40 months. During that time, peak afternoon backups could grow from 2.1 miles to 3 miles at the Downtown Tunnel and from 2.8 miles to 3.9 miles at the Midtown Tunnel, according to a Hampton Roads Metropolitan Planning Organization analysis. The High-Rise Bridge on Interstate 64 could face 1,400 more vehicles each day.

Saturday's closing won't have a lot of fanfare, officials say. Some unusual preparation work has already been done.

For instance, the city has sealed the Jordan Bridge's nesting box for a pair of peregrine falcons that had previously relocated from under the Berkley Bridge. The Jordan is also being removed from city maps so that it is not included on driving routes generated by MapQuest or Google Maps, city officials say.

All of the bridge's workers have been reassigned. By April, there likely will be a memorial service for the bridge, which has been open to traffic since Aug. 24, 1928. The bridge could be demolished in six months to a year, city officials say.

Lilley, whose grandfather helped build the Jordan, went across Wednesday night, just to cruise it.

"It's just a pretty structure," he said. "It's part of what this country used to be. You can't keep everything forever, I guess."

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