April 15, 1964, 60 years ago: The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel opens, carrying U.S. Route 13 over, and under, the Chesapeake Bay, connecting Cape Charles, on the Delmarva Peninsula ("Del-mar-va": Delaware, Maryland and Virginia), with the resort city of Virginia Beach.
It is 17.6 miles long, and replaced a ferry service that had been operating since the 1930s. The company sold their ferry boats to the Delaware Bay Authority, which introduced the Cape May-Lewes Ferry service between New Jersey and Delaware, 3 months later.
Theoretically, the span saves people trying to get from the Northeast to the Hampton Roads area, including Norfolk and Virginia Beach, Virginia's 2 largest cities, 95 miles and an hour and a half of driving.
But this is misleading: For most of its run, from Falls Township, Pennsylvania between Trenton and Philadelphia, and Fayetteville, North Carolina, Route 13 is only 2 lanes, 1 in each direction. From 1964 to 1999, this included the Bridge-Tunnel. A 2nd span, carrying southbound traffic over 2 lanes, opened in 1999, leaving the original span to carry northbound traffic over 2 lanes.
In 1987, the span, often abbreviated to the CBBT, was officially named the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Tunnel. Kellam (1911-1995) was the first Chairman of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission, who got it built.
There have been 3 incidents involving ships crashing into the bridge, forcing temporary closures for repairs, in 1967, 1970 and 1972; and 16 incidents involving cars going off the bridge and into the water, including 1 death in 2017 and another in 2020.
There is a plan to build an additional span, to make it 4 lanes in each direction. This plan states that it is not expected to be completed before 2040.
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