VDOT forecasts traffic on MMBT, Route 17 bridges to be over capacity during James River Bridge closure
SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Two planned four-day closures of the James River Bridge will increase traffic on several major roadways, the Virginia Department of Transportation cautions.
The bridge spanning the James River between Carrolton in Isle of Wight County and the River area of Newport News will close to all traffic from 1 a.m. Friday, Jan. 12 through 5 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16 and again from 1 a.m. Friday, Feb. 2 through 5 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, so crews can replace the 42-year-old counterweight wire ropes that lift the bridge span for marine traffic.
In a presentation given to Suffolk City Council, VDOT estimated that not having one of their three major crossings open between the Peninsula and the South Side of Hampton Roads, could result in traffic on alternate routes exceeding their capacity by up to 55% during rush hour.
It’s why they are beefing up resources around their other water crossings while asking drivers to seriously reconsider travel plans.
JRB closures will impact the Isle of Wight County Schools schedule
“It is going to be a very hard and difficult two weekends,” Robert Lewis, Suffolk Public Works director told the council back in early September.
The average daily traffic count at the James River Bridge is approximately 28,000 cars according to VDOT.
While the bridge isn’t in Suffolk, it’s forecasted that most of the alternative traffic will end up on the roads going through the city, such as Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel (MMMBT)
VDOT projects that with the closure on top of normal traffic flows, the MMMBT could be 34% over capacity during the morning weekday rush and 47% overcapacity in the afternoon.
When it comes to the U.S. Route 17, Interstate 664 and State Route 164 interchanges, VDOT estimates the gathering of roadways could be at 55% over capacity during morning drive and 34% overcapacity in the afternoons.
Finally, the Godwin Bridge over the Nasnemond River could be 31% overcapacity in the morning and 34% in the afternoon.
Weekend travel would be near capacity for all roadways as well, but wouldn’t go over.
Shannon Ternes, the structure and bridge program manager for VDOT emphasized the projections are for worst-case scenarios.
It’s one of the reasons Tim Kelley, a spokesperson for VDOT, said they have been encouraging local governments and businesses to allow for remote work on those days if they can.
“Certainly we want to make sure the traffic is flowing as smoothly as possible,” Kelley said. “… We’re encouraging people to stay off the roadways, avoid non-essential travel if they can during this period. I know the scheduling was very critical for this as far as bridging it over a weekend. Not to say that people don’t travel as much on a weekend as they do during the weekday, but certainly utilizing that time to perhaps, you know, assist with some of the volume that we may be experiencing.”
Isle of Wight County Public Schools already announced they will keep their buses off the roads on those days.
However, knowing an accident on the MMMBT could wreak havoc as well, Kelley said they have a plan to respond to incidents as quickly as possible.
“We’re moving any of the tow trucks that are used to the JRB, moving those over to the Monitor-Merrimac,” Kelley said. “As far as that way, we could handle any incidents that may come up to hopefully expedite that process to get that cleared as soon as possible.”
He said staffing is also being beefed up on the Jamestown-Scotland Ferry, which is another alternative.
The $3.49 million project to replace the 80, 2,200-pound cables should only need to be done once in the next 40 years if all goes according to plan.
If for some reason weather cuts into the plans, back-up closure dates have also been announced for the project:
1 a.m. Friday, Jan. 19 through 5 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23
1 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 8 through 5 a.m. Monday, Feb. 12
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