Holiday travelers may want to factor in extra time

WASHINGTON - The Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. But if you're headed on the roads or the rails, it will be a challenge this year.

For people headed to the beach, the right lane of the eastbound span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge will be closed for up to 10 weeks.

Officials say two-way traffic will operate on the westbound span during peak times. Three lanes will be available westbound during the morning rush hour.

Maryland Transportation Authority Chairman John Porcari says beachgoers should travel off-peak or use alternate routes.

The MTA says they will be adding extra staff members to handle traffic at the Bay Bridge during the Labor Day weekend. The MTA says they will monitor traffic to ensure there are enough E-ZPass and cash booths to accommodate drivers.

The work on the bridge is to fix corrosion found inside the jersey walls and strengthen parapets with extra steel.

The speed limit for the eastbound span will be dropped to 40 mph while construction is underway.

A Metro track project will affect service on the Blue and Yellow lines this weekend.

The entire track between the Reagan National and Braddock Road stations will be shut down for the weekend. Shuttle bus service will be provided, but Metro says riders should add about a half hour to trips.

The Metro work starts at 9 a.m. and lasts until Tuesday at 4 a.m.

AAA Mid-Atlantic is predicting about a small decrease from last year in the number of people from the Greater Washington area traveling for the Labor Day weekend.

AAA predicts 686,000 area residents will travel at least 50 miles. That's a decline of 0.6 percent since last year. It's the third consecutive summer holiday that AAA has expected a dip in the year-to-year travel numbers.

About 557,000 area residents intend to travel by car this weekend, and about 107,000 plan to fly.

The number of people flying is predicted to decline by 3.7 percent, but the number using buses or trains is expected to increase by 3.2 percent.

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