Bay Bridge tolls resume; bridge repairs worry innkeepers

ANNAPOLIS, MD – (AP) The toll for the Bay Bridge is going back into effect after a two-hour break to ease traffic backups.

Toll booths stopped collecting money from drivers at 4 p.m., when eastbound traffic backups stretched for about 2.6 miles. At about 5:15 p.m. delays started about 1 mile from the toll plaza.

Cheryl Sparks, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Transportation Authority, says tolls are going back into effect at 6 p.m., because there were no delays before the toll plaza.

No backups were reported westbound.

An eastbound lane was closed Tuesday for an estimated 10 weeks of emergency repairs to a barrier wall.

The Maryland Transportation Authority advised holiday weekend travelers heading to the Eastern Shore to consider using an alternate route through northeastern Maryland.

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(AP) EASTON, MD - Innkeepers and hotel operators on the Eastern Shore are wondering what emergency repairs on the Bay Bridge will mean for their businesses during the holiday weekend.

An eastbound lane was closed Tuesday and will remain closed for an estimated ten weeks. Some hotel managers are worried that guests will cancel their travel plans rather than risk long delays in jammed traffic.

Steve Walterhoefer, owner and manager of the Days Inn in Easton, hadn't received any cancelations by Thursday, but he says he's anxious.

Officials at the Tidewater Inn in Easton reported Thursday it was almost sold out for the weekend.

--- Information from: The (Easton, Md.) Star Democrat, http://www.stardem.com