OCEAN CITY — The Harry W. Kelley Memorial Bridge, or Route 50 drawbridge into Ocean City, will be closed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. each night starting Sunday, April 15 and throughout much of the following week.
Last weekend, the bridge was closed from 10 p.m. on Friday to 8 a.m. on Saturday as State Highway Administration (SHA) contracted crews made needed repairs to the structure. During a recent routine evaluation, SHA crews discovered a small crack in a single steel beam on the structure.
The bridge has been deemed safe and operable but the repairs are necessary to ensure reliability heading into the spring and summer seasons. At this point, it is not known if further damage was discovered during the maintenance project last Friday, or if the scheduled closures next week are precautionary to allow for more testing and maintenance checks.
According to SHA spokesman Charlie Gischlar, there will be two crews working simultaneously next week, one on the east side and one of the west end. Gischlar said next week’s closure is a result of last Friday night’s inspection.
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6 comments:
It's time to replace that thing with a bridge that has bike, pedestrian and fishing room.
Way past time for a new bridge.
Let's help the SHA guys pull their heads out of their nether regions for closing it on a Friday night. Couldn't It have waited until Sunday or Monday night? Plus, it was windy and cold that night; perfectly suited for bridge repairs. Come on, man!
In the words of Homer Simpson.....duh!
Are they ever going to get that bridge repaired?
It is taking for ever.
Band-aids SHA...BAND-AIDS indeed. Anyone remember several July's ago when the bridge went up, but would not close for over 8 hours? Total and utter gridlock. If there would have been an emergency..well..... LUCK was on Ricky's side that Saturday, in mid season. Whats been done since...band aid after band aid....SHA saying zero funds available.
That can being kicked down the road will eventually be called. New bridge is the answer and continuing to push it later will eventually leave OC with its pants down. Not a pleasant sight and expanding the route 90 bridge isn't the answer either.
You can't blame the Town of OC for this, they have no control. I agree they really should start thinking about a new bridge sooner than later, and Route 90 shoudl be dualized. But you are seeing how long it has taken SHA to finish Route 113.
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