The Middle Peninsula Planning District Commission is working on obtaining state funding to address continued closures at the George P. Coleman Bridge.
MPPDC chairman and Gloucester County supervisor Ashley Chriscoe wrote a letter to State Sen. Tommy Norment (R-James City County) on Sept. 8 that was included in the September board packet. In it, Chriscoe “strongly” requested that VDOT initiate a comprehensive overhaul of the bridge’s systems using money that were designated to the Special Structures Fund in the most recent state budget.
Chriscoe outlined the issues with the bridge, including two separate closures of the structure that occurred on July 20 and 25 resulting from hydraulic failures. He said the closures “resulted in hours of delays for commuters to and from the Middle Peninsula” and that the failures are just the latest “in what has become an increasing trend of closures in recent years as the Coleman Bridge’s moveable span ages.”
Chriscoe explained to Norment that the Cole...