NORFOLK
The traffic delays that turned commuting into a nightmare on Thursday returned briefly this morning.
Employees from the Virginia Department of Transportation closed one westbound lane in the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel shortly before 10 last night to continue repairs to a malfunctioning pump.
The lane was reopened to traffic about 9 a.m. today, but at 10:40 a.m., westbound traffic was still backed up approximately six miles, according to VDOT's Web site.
Lauren Hansen, a VDOT spokeswoman, said one lane of the westbound tunnel will close again around 7 tonight for more repairs that will continue until early Saturday morning. Intermittent closures are likely to occur throughout the July 4th weekend.
On Thursday morning, the westbound tube of the tunnel began to fill with water because of a malfunctioning pump. The tunnel was closed and traffic was routed off Interstate 64 into Ocean View, resulting in massive traffic backups throughout Hampton Roads.
Traffic to the Peninsula was rerouted through downtown Norfolk to the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel. Traffic there backed up nearly 20 miles into Chesapeake.
One westbound lane of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel reopened at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday and all lanes were reopened by 7:30 p.m. Yet traffic backups persisted until nearly 10 p.m.
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tunnel repairs
Why couldnt VDOT put in a temporary pump running a hose up the walkway that runs inside the tunnel. Should there be a storm that would have water going into the tunnel they would be able to remove it. Then permament repairs could be made during none rush hour times after the weekend. This would help with traffic problems over a holiday weekend with its increased traffic. Shutting down one lane at 7PM till after 9AM on a weekend just compunds the problems. This isnt rocket science why cant 100k+ a year managers figure this out
hahahahaha. all you people
hahahahaha. all you people trying to get out of town today. you not very smart. but thats what you get. =P
=D have fun sitting in traffic. me, i'm headed south va beach. away from you and all the crazies!