A project to eliminate water seepage at the open cuts of the I-664/Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel is scheduled to begin next week and be completed by late spring.
Motorists should expect nightly lane closures and occasional night-time traffic stoppages of as long as 20 minutes at the bridge-tunnel over the course of the project, which has a fixed completion date of May 17, according to VDOT.
The single-lane closures are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Monday on I-664 south and continue until 5 a.m. the next day.
The lane closures will resume each weeknight and could extend to weekends.
Updates on the closures will be noted in VDOT Hampton Roads’ weekly lane closure report.
The lane closures will be limited to the following hours:
I-664 South
- Monday-Thursday: 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- Friday: 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- Saturday: 9 p.m. to 7 a.m.
- Sunday: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
I-664 North
- Monday-Thursday: 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- Friday: 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
- Saturday: 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
- Sunday: 8 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Drivers have long encountered wet pavement at the entrances and exits of the MMMBT because of salt water seepage, which, while a nuisance that at times must be treated to prevent freezing, does not affect the structural integrity of the bridge-tunnel.
The upcoming work will use a method that VDOT successfully tested in a pilot project last year on some of the joints.
It involves diverting water below the pavement and requires saw cutting, milling, installing steel plates and repaving.
A $2.5 million contract was awarded to Curtis Contracting to complete the work, according to VDOT.
