VDOT News - Fredericksburg

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – Vehicle traffic on Route 223 (Old Ferry Road) in Mathews County may experience intermittent stops overnight during the next two evenings at the bridge over Milford Haven between Gwynn’s Island and mainland Mathews.

Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) bridge crews may stop vehicle traffic at each bridge approach for up to 30-minute intervals between 10 p.m. tonight and 6 a.m. Friday, July 7, and again from 10 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday, July 8.

Vehicle traffic will be stopped as crews repair and test the bridge's movable swing span that opens for marine traffic in Milford Haven. The bridge has been closed to marine traffic since the swing span became locked in the closed position on Wednesday, July 5, during afternoon high temperatures.

The bridge remains open to vehicle traffic.

Built in 1938, the bridge over Milford Haven opens approximately 3,000 times a year, which is more than any other state-maintained movable bridge in Virginia.

The bridge’s navigational clearance is 11 feet vertically and 80 feet horizontally when closed. Watercraft that cannot navigate underneath the bridge within this clearance requires an opening.

A bridge maintenance project is underway to improve the condition of the bridge’s mechanical elements connected with the moveable swing span. Work is anticipated to be complete in fall 2023. When construction is finished, the project will restore the ability of the bridge to open on demand for marine traffic.

Prior to this week's suspension of marine openings, the bridge had resumed six scheduled openings a day in May 2023 at the following times: 2 a.m., 5 a.m., 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 7 p.m., and 10 p.m. Over the next two evenings, VDOT crews will work to repair the swing span to restore the temporary scheduled openings as the larger maintenance project continues.

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