STEVENSVILLE, Md. — Ramp closures on Kent Island designed to prevent beach travelers from causing gridlock on local side roads are proved controversial on Memorial Day as tens of thousands made their way home from coastal resorts.
Some Kent Island residents claim the cure is worse than the disease.
Monday, authorities in Stevensville closed ramps accessing US Route 50 westbound toward the Bay Bridge from Maryland Route 8 and from Duke Street. Queen Anne's County Sheriff's deputies were posted at the roundabout at Castle Marina Drive to discourage through-travelers from using local roads and to keep local traffic moving smoothly.
The moves make it impossible for beach travelers to use local roads as a detour around the legendary back ups that occur on US 50 westbound approaching the bridge, by prohibiting detour traffic from getting back on the highway at points closer to the bridge.
Data from Google Maps indicated less gridlock on local roads in Stevensville Monday afternoon, while traffic backed up on US 50 as far back as Route 404. At 4 p.m., Google Maps reported the 15-mile trip from Wye Mills to the Bay Bridge for through-travelers was more than an hour.
Even so, some Stevensville residents complained the ramp closures made navigating the Kent Island community locally more difficult than it was before the closures.
“Sure the back roads are open, but there's nowhere to go," complained resident George Bilbo, who was trying to fuel up his vehicle Monday before his commute to work Tuesday.
"Once get up to Route 8, you've got to come all the way back because everything's closed. You can't get back on," Bilbo said.
Queen Anne's County Commissioners fielded similar complaints during a town hall meeting earlier in May.
“We're trying to stop beach traffic from getting on our side streets so people in Grasonville, Queenstown and Chester can get to the grocery or the hardware or wherever they need to go," Commissioner Jim Moran explained.
Moran and other commissioners point out community safety is at stake because local gridlock has resulted in long delays in responding to emergency and medical calls.
Moran is a fierce advocate for expanding capacity by adding to the Bay Bridge, but he warned residents at the town hall that new lanes crossing the Chesapeake Bay are at least 10 years away.
He called for patience as motorists learn new traffic patterns during ramp closures, which will be assessed and modified depending on results.
Similar ramp closures will occur on the west side of the bridge beginning Friday in an attempt to prevent through-travelers on US 50 from clogging frontage roads in Anne Arundel County needed for local traffic.
WATCH NEXT: Paying tribute on Memorial Day in DC