More work needed at Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel

More work is needed to repair a pump that closed the westbound tube of the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, but authorities believe all lanes will be open today and tonight.

"The last thing we want to do is close a lane on the tunnel on the Fourth of July evening," said Lauren Hansen, a Virginia Department of Transportation spokeswoman. Both lanes were open much of yesterday and traffic moved steadily.

One westbound lane was scheduled to close last night and reopen by 9 a.m. today.

Additional work will be performed tomorrow or later so heavy holiday traffic will not be further delayed, she said.

"We have not repaired anything yet," said Hansen. "As soon as we get the water out of the pump house, we can get in there, see what the damage is and make the necessary repairs."

Power outages from a storm Wednesday were blamed for a damaged pump and possible water main break that wasn't discovered until Thursday morning, she said.

The malfunctions filled a pump house with water, and the mouth of the tunnel on the Hampton side had as much as 6 inches of water. The alarm system alerting the control room of a failure also malfunctioned.

The closure caused massive traffic backups throughout Thursday and prompted an outcry from local officials concerned about the tunnel's effectiveness as a hurricane escape route.

Transportation authorities reported fewer traffic backups yesterday of up to 6 miles near the bridge-tunnel amid the heavily traveled July Fourth weekend.

According to The Virginian-Pilot, detouring vehicles spilled onto alternate routes and traffic at the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel backed up more than 20 miles into Chesapeake at the height of the problems Thursday.

Midtown and Downtown tunnel traffic was stacked up 3 to 4 miles into Norfolk, clogging city thoroughfares.

The closures of some downtown streets for Harborfest compounded the problems.

Times-Dispatch staff writer Frank Green and The Associated Press contributed to this report.