For Baltimore-area residents, bridge collapse means longer commutes and uncertain prospects
-
Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed after being hit by the Dali container vessel, as seen from Riviera Beach, Md., on Tuesday.Carol Guzy for NPR -
A sign warns drivers heading to Baltimore that the Francis Scott Key bridge is closed and to use alternate routes.Laurel Wamsley/NPR -
Brenda Cotsairis has seen the area weather its ups and downs. On Tuesday, she joined others at a lookout in Dundalk, Md., where the collapsed bridge was visible.Laurel Wamsley/NPR -
The town of Dundalk is among the Maryland communities near the Key Bridge likely to see less traffic while the bridge is down.Laurel Wamsley/NPR
For Marylanders like Becky Grimes, who works at an Amazon warehouse near the eastern end of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, the bridge's sudden collapse immediately changed the shape of her day — and many days ahead.
She normally takes the Key Bridge to and from work, but it now takes an extra half hour each way to drive through the city of Baltimore instead of around it.
"I'm not looking forward to it," she says. "There's a lot of people that already want to transfer out."
The collapse of the bridge and the closure of the Port of Baltimore is upending life for countless people in the Chesapeake region.
For many residents, it's the bridge closure that will shake up their daily lives, lengthening commutes and clogging the city's tunnels.
But for the regional economy, the far bigger blow is that the fallen bridge and the container ship Dali are blocking the Port of Baltimore.
"Because of the port being suspended, we don't have any traffic yesterday, today, at least for the next week or a week and a half," says Brent Howard, president of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce. "That's money that we're losing every day because those ships are being redirected to other ports. Norfolk, Newark, Philadelphia are getting that revenue on a daily basis that was already slotted for Baltimore."
And the Key Bridge is a toll bridge that last year generated 7% of the total revenue for the state's transportation authority, according to an analysis by Moody's.
Howard says getting the port and bridge running again is pivotal to the region, both economically and emotionally.
"We're the Chesapeake," he says. "Baltimore is really connected to the port and connected to water and connected to ships and vessels. That's something that's always been intrinsic to Baltimore's history, going back to our inception."
A bustling port, now in limbo
As a little girl in the 1970s, Brenda Cotsairis's father brought her to a sandy beach to see the Key Bridge under construction.
She works at a local grocery store and has seen the area weather its ups and downs.
"For a lot of years, good jobs were gone and then things started to come back," she says. "And now we have Tradepoint Atlantic and we have the port bustling — it's a very, very busy port and it's thriving for Baltimore. And now it's devastated."
Daraius Irani, an economist at Towson University, estimates that the port's closure is costing between $10 million and $15 million a day in lost economic activity. And at least another $1 million a day in state and local taxes won't be collected while the port is closed.
Still, Irani says the port — which last year had its best year ever — should fully rebound. That's in part because Baltimore's port is about a day further inland than many others on the Eastern seaboard, putting it closer to points in the Midwest.
He says if the port remains closed for months, there could be some furloughs, but he doesn't expect layoffs among workers there. And Irani says the bridge's collapse will likely create some jobs.
"You hate to say this, but in any kind of disaster, there's obviously the opportunity for the rebuild. So new construction jobs will likely come up because they need to build a new bridge," he says.
Businesses near the bridge could see fewer customers
The bridge's absence will almost certainly have a longer impact on the small businesses located near its entrances on either side of the Patapsco River.
Joe Gold is the general manager of Key Brewing, a craft brewery in the town of Dundalk. Like the bridge, the brewery was named after Francis Scott Key, who wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner."
"We're not shut down I mean, it's not like that," Gold said Wednesday. "It's just ... the community is going to have to readjust."
With the Key Bridge closed, the traffic that would have passed by to get on I-695 is now taking alternate routes — routes that don't pass by Key Brewing's taproom.
"When I came to work this morning, past 95 to our office, it was the least amount of traffic that I've ever seen on my commute," Gold says.
He says that's a sign that people aren't coming that direction anymore, at least during their daily commutes.
Is he worried about his business surviving? Not just yet.
"It's still too early," he says. "It's still too fresh to kind of know how deep of an impact this is going to have."
It all depends on how long it takes to clear the port — and rebuild a very long bridge.
9(MDAxODcyMTgzMDEyMTgxMTY5NjYxN2I4OQ004))
Transcript
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge and the closure of the port of Baltimore is upending life for countless people in the Chesapeake region. They say that, for them, it's not just infrastructure. It's their identity as people who live close to the water and depend on shipping for the region's renewal. NPR's Laurel Wamsley reports.
LAUREL WAMSLEY, BYLINE: For Marylanders like Becky Grimes, who works as a packer at a warehouse near the Key Bridge, its sudden collapse changed the shape of her day and the days ahead immediately.
BECKY GRIMES: I work at Amazon, so we had to go through the city to get here.
WAMSLEY: Normally you would just go across the bridge?
GRIMES: Across the bridge.
WAMSLEY: How much longer did it take?
GRIMES: Probably another half an hour or longer.
WAMSLEY: Is that every day?
GRIMES: Yes. There's a lot of people that already want to transfer out.
WAMSLEY: Brenda Cotsaris (ph) works at a local grocery store. As a little girl, her father brought her to see the Key Bridge being built, and she's seen the city weather its ups and downs.
BRENDA COTSAIRIS: For a lot of years, good jobs were gone, and then things started to come back. And now we have Tradepoint Atlantic. And we have the port bustling. It's a very, very busy port, and it's thriving for Baltimore. And now it's devastated.
BRENT HOWARD: The further-reaching effect, really, of the bridge collapsing is the bridge collapsing in the port.
WAMSLEY: Brent Howard is president of the Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce.
HOWARD: Because of the port being suspended, we don't have any traffic yesterday, today, at least for the next week or a week and a half. So that's money that we're losing every day because those ships are being redirected to other ports - so Norfolk, Newark, Philadelphia.
WAMSLEY: And the Key Bridge - it's a toll bridge that last year generated 7% of the total revenue for the state's transportation authority. Howard says getting the port reopened and the bridge rebuilt are crucial, both economically and emotionally.
HOWARD: With the Chesapeake, you know, Baltimore is really connected to the port and connected to water and connected to, you know, ships and vessels. It's something that's always been intrinsic to Baltimore's history, you know, moving back to our inception.
WAMSLEY: Daraius Irani is an economist at Towson University. He estimates that the port's closure is costing between 10 and $15 million a day in lost economic activity and at least another million dollars a day in state and local taxes that won't be collected. But still, Irani says the port, which last year had its best year ever, should fully rebound, in part because Baltimore's port is about a day further inland than many others, putting it closer to points in the Midwest. In terms of jobs in the port, he says that there could be some furloughs, but likely not many layoffs. And he notes that this tragedy will probably, in the process, create some jobs.
DARAIUS IRANI: You hate to say this but in any kind of disaster, there's obviously the opportunity for the rebuild. So new construction jobs will likely come up because they need to build a new bridge.
WAMSLEY: The absence of the bridge will almost certainly have a longer impact on the small businesses located near its entrances on either side of the Patapsco River. Joe Gold is the general manager of Key Brewing, a craft brewery in the town of Dundalk. Like the bridge, the brewery was named after Francis Scott Key, who wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner."
JOE GOLD: We're not shut down. I mean, it's not like it's that. We just have to - the community is going to have to readjust.
WAMSLEY: With the Key Bridge closed, the traffic that would have passed by to get on 695 is now taking alternate routes - routes that don't pass by Key Brewing's taproom.
GOLD: When I came to work this morning, past 95, to our office, it was the least amount of traffic that I've ever seen on my commute. It's showing me that people aren't coming in our direction to our community, at least in their commute.
WAMSLEY: Is Gold worried about his business surviving? Not yet.
GOLD: It's still too early. You know what I mean? We're - it's still too fresh to kind of know how deep of an impact this is going to have.
WAMSLEY: It all depends on how long it takes to clear the port and rebuild a very long bridge.
Laurel Wamsley, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad