Gas prices, construction delays not deterring drivers
It will take more than bank-breaking gas prices to keep Washingtonians from their summer jaunts.
While the historic surge in fuel prices is prompting more people to buy smaller cars, take public transit and cut back on unnecessary driving, it apparently won’t keep many of them from their Labor Day trips, according to AAA figures.
The auto club projects 686,000 Washington-area residents will travel 50 miles or more over the weekend — only 0.6 percent fewer than last year, despite a 90-cent-per-gallon rise in gas prices.
The travelers represent 12.8 percent of the area’s population.
Of that group, 81 percent will travel by car and 16 percent will fly, according to AAA surveys.
Some 21,000 people will travel by train, bus or other transit — a 25 percent increase from last year.
Drivers headed to Maryland beaches can expect heavy delays at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, officials announced.
The state transportation department shut down the right lane of bridge’s eastbound span Wednesday to allow workers to begin repairing and strengthening the barriers on the side of the bridge after inspections found corrosion inside of them.
A tractor-trailer crashed through the bridge’s barrier in a deadly accident earlier this month, leaving a 10-foot gap in the concrete wall.
The speed limit has been lowered to 40 miles per hour on the eastbound span’s one open lane, and officials are urging travelers to use alternate routes.
The Virginia Department of Transportation is suspending temporary construction zones from noon Friday to noon Tuesday in an attempt to ease weekend traffic.
Long-term construction zones with concrete barriers and orange barrels will remain in place.
