Maryland commuters face extended delays as Key Bridge rebuild timeline shifts
By Breana Ross
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EDGEMERE, Md. (WBAL) — Frannie Leatherman, who heard the Key Bridge collapse from her house, will never forget the impact it has had on her.
“I can see it from my home, and I couldn’t believe that it happened,” Leatherman said.
Now, Leatherman cannot believe how much the loss of the bridge is impacting her life and her commute as she drives all over the area for her job in liquor sales.
“My workday, travel, I can’t go anywhere in less than two hours,” Leatherman said. “Traffic is worse than ever because everybody is going the same direction… It’s definitely inconvenient and it has impacted production, performance, the ability to get everywhere. You have to do things differently.”
Leatherman isn’t the only one having to do things differently.
“I’ve had to take a different route, sit in traffic, find a different area to work in,” said Jay O’Bryant, who works near the bridge.
“It impacts us with the driving, traffic and everyone having to go around,” said Donnie Moody, who works near the bridge. “Usually, when we had to go to Dundalk, it was just that trip over the bridge. Now, it’s just another 30 minutes out of the way.”
“I work down at FedEx,” said Samuel Tyler. “I’m a supervisor down there, so as far as for our drivers, it makes it a lot more difficult for them to do their routes.”
The inconvenience will continue for an estimated five more years after the Maryland Transportation Authority announced that the estimated reopening of the Key Bridge has been pushed from fall 2028 to late 2030, with costs now estimated between $4.3 billion and $5.2 billion instead of the initial $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion estimate.
MDTA leaders said the higher cost and longer timeline come as they’ve realized everything it takes to make the new bridge as safe and sustainable as possible.
The extended timeline has sparked shock and frustration among drivers.
“Man, hurry up,” one person said. “People have a life to live, man.”
“It’s going to be more difficult now obviously,” Tyler said.
“That’s a long time,” Leatherman said. “I know a lot of people who have actually sold their homes and moved to the other side of the bridge… It’s unfortunate. I feel like there should be some consideration for people that have to face this.”
Bruce Gartner, executive director of MDTA, outlined efforts to mitigate traffic impacts.
“We’re doing things like making it (clearer) where the merges are on Interstate 95. So, I-395 and I-295, there is new paint out there on the roadway just to keep traffic running more smoothly,” Gartner said. “Early on, State Highway Administration and the local governments worked with us on signal timing that leads into the system to help with some of that, but when you have a constrained highway network that relies on tunnels, it’s really difficult to make those physical improvements.”
Gartner also mentioned incentives to encourage carpooling, vanpooling and transit options for commuters.
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