I've been driving my family to Long Island from NC every year for Thanksgiving for the past 20 years. A few years into this, I got really tired of taking I-95, especially once you get north of Richmond. So I started looking into alternate routes and instead of I-95 all the way, we cut over to Norfolk from I-95 at Emporia, then take the CBBT to the Delmarva Peninsula, up to Lewes, DE, the Cape May ferry to the Garden State parkway to Staten Island, then across the Verrazzano to Long Island.
Other than one year when a deer jumped out in front of me on the GSP, it's a much more pleasant and relaxing trip than I-95, and it's nice to have the ferry ride to break things up.
Anyway, that's how I discovered the CBBT in the first place and it's always been a fun part of the (580'ish mi / 930'ish km) trip.
Indeed! That is the preferred route for basically everyone in the eastern half of Virginia, especially south of Richmond/Charlottesville (I grew up in Lynchburg, went to school at UVA, and my bro-in-law lives in VA Beach). It's waaaaay nicer to drive up Delmarva than I95!
Thanks! We've been to the the Great Machipongo Clam Shack a handful of times. We usually only stop for food on the return trip. Maybe we'll give Stingray's a try this time.
As a kid, the Lewes ferry was always a treat getting to my grandparents, who lived in Elizabeth across from NYC.
Another treat was driving up the NJ Turnpike past exit 9, because I always wanted to see the old ferry Mary Murray that was beached on the Raritan River. I'm rather sad it's gone.
A project is underway to add a 2nd tunnel using a tunnel border. This increases the effective width from one to two lanes of traffic in each direction; four total lanes between the two tunnels. The borer moves 50-60 feet per day; at this rate they expect to finish the boring process in a year.
This article is excellent! I grew up on the Eastern Shore. It’s a place most people in central parts of Virginia don’t even realize exists.
I’ve been across the bridge probably close to 100 times by now. I’ve often wondered why parts of the bridge were built the way they were. For example I’ve always wanted to know why the bridge near fisherman’s island was so tall. I never realized it was for fishing boats makes total sense.
I’m glad the bridge exists and can’t wait for the new lanes to get added. I think two way traffic in the tunnels freaks people out. I always go into the tunnel cruising at 55 or 60 and come out the other side doing 45 behind the one other car in the tunnel ahead of me.
The bridge toll also changes depending on when you cross it. The weekends are more expensive by a couple of dollars. Back in the day I remember it being $12. Now it’s getting closer to $20. I wish I could pay a dollar a mile and make it constant. I think the bridge is 17 miles long.
Also side note I believe the filmed mission impossible 3 on the bridge.
All in all great read. Would have been terrifying building that bridge back in the day. Couldn’t imagine a world with out it though.
> I think two way traffic in the tunnels freaks people out. I always go into the tunnel cruising at 55 or 60 and come out the other side doing 45 behind the one other car in the tunnel ahead of me.
I think people mostly have trouble maintaining speed on the upgrade. If you're not paying attention or using cruise control you have to apply quite a bit more accelerator pedal.
I dearly miss when there was an operating restaurant (and fishing pier) on one of the islands, such a special place to stop off on a family road trip and probably gone forever in a post-9/11, post-COVID world. Being allowed to stop in the middle of the bridge tunnel was so cool and I hate that we might never be allowed to again.
I grew up in Virginia Beach and we used to talk about this bridge as one of the modern wonders of the world. They shut the bridge down for a day many years ago and my family and I were able to ride across it on bikes. Awesome experience.
They had a bike/pedestrian day after completing the second span about 15-20 years ago. I wish they did that more often, or hosted some kind of marathon. Seems like a fun idea.
They have a Chesapeake Bay Bridge walk/run every year. It should probably be noted that it’s not the same bridge as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel that this post is about.
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge connects Annapolis with Kent Island, while the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel connects the southern tip of Virginia’s eastern shore with Norfolk, VA.
When I was in college I went on a family vacation where we crossed the CBBT. I remember I had an early Android phone acting as a hotspot and I was trying to play multiplayer Minecraft on my laptop. It worked well up until the first tunnel portion, at which point signal dropped out, and I decided to actually pay attention to my surroundings. (To be clear, I was not the one driving)
This is not to be confused with the older Chesapeake Bay Bridge that crosses the bay just south of Baltimore, across to Kent Island (or another bridge built right next to it.)
Other than one year when a deer jumped out in front of me on the GSP, it's a much more pleasant and relaxing trip than I-95, and it's nice to have the ferry ride to break things up.
Anyway, that's how I discovered the CBBT in the first place and it's always been a fun part of the (580'ish mi / 930'ish km) trip.