When the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge was to be built, a lot of people breathed a sigh of relief. After all, this new bridge would have at least four lanes in each direction, matching the number of lanes on the Beltway and in theory eliminating one of the major bottlenecks on the interstate.

I must admit that I, too, thought that the new Wilson Bridge would be delay-free once the number of lanes met or exceeded those leading up to it on the Beltway. That’s why I’ve been so surprised over the past year or so when listening to the traffic reports for the afternoon rush hours and more often than not hear about delays on the outer loop beginning near Eisenhower Avenue or before Route 1. That’s where the delays began before the new bridge was built. At the same time, I didn’t hear from a lot of readers who drive across the bridge until recently. Many of them are frustrated with the delays even though they acknowledge that the bridge wasn’t rebuilt just to relieve congestion but because the old one was falling apart.