Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel

[RavensFan24]

I'll be traveling to Ocean City, MD from FL next month and want to take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel from the south end. Has anyone had issues with crossing this long bridge/tunnel with their RV or trailer? I checked the site and it seems like as long as we're under 12' and have no more than 2 propane tanks, we should be good to go.

Just checking in because if I can't utilize this bridge/tunnel then I have to go up and around the bay and that would easily add 100 miles to the trip.

[JimFromJersey]

The last few posts are ticklers. I remember doing the CBBT back in the day, when it was just a single lane in each direction, in a blinding snowstorm. Now THAT was fun! They closed it about half hour after we got across, if I remember. Early 70s?

It's interesting how some people are more concerned with the height over water - I'd think that skimming right over it at about 20 feet, like much of the CBBT, is more nerve-wracking that passing a couple hundred feet over the water, like the Bay Bridge.

I guess, having grown up in the Delaware Valley, and gone over our half-dozen high bridges since I was a tyke in short pants, there is little that bothers me. The Del Memorial, Commodore Barry, Walt Whitman, Ben Franklin, and Betsy Ross are all fairly high over the river. But I feel for those with concerns.

[Jeff-April-Tori]

Atlee wrote:
The US17 bridge at Charleston, SC is one of the worst I've driven over. It's very high and the speed limit is 65. I did have a panic attack the first and only time I went over it.

Was that the new bridge or the old ones? The new bridge is very modern, the old ones looked like they would fall into the river at any point (in fact, that is what they did do to demo them). The old ones were very scary! If you do not like high bridges, either would be scary (the new one is even higher than the old two).

The old ones were very narrow and you drove right next to the rail just like on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge....

[Atlee]

The US17 bridge at Charleston, SC is one of the worst I've driven over. It's very high and the speed limit is 65. I did have a panic attack the first and only time I went over it.

[Johno02]

And in a motor home, you can see so much more over the edge than in a car. Just don't get behind me on a interstate fly-over. I am the one blocking traffic by driving down the middle of the bridge! It is nice of them to paint a white line down the center of my lane.

[Jeff-April-Tori]

I will have to say having crossed both the CBBT and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (Rt 50 near Annapolis), my choice would be the CBBT any day... The Bay Bridge (Rt 50) is very high off the water with pretty narrow lanes.

People get nervous driving cars across it let alone Big RV's! I crossed it a few weeks back with a colleague of mine in the car with me (not towing), and she just looked at me and talked the whole time... Got nervous when I took one hand off the wheel, and she was just the passenger.

Google Chesapeake Bay Bridge and look at some of the pics...

I have walked out to the middle of the Bridge at the Hoover Dam (there is a walkway to walk out and take pics of the dam). It is definitely higher than the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, scary from that perspective. Big difference is the lanes are more wide with shoulders... Not as scary as driving right next to the rail...

[Johno02]

And the new bridge across below Boulder Dam? No way!

[Johno02]

For your bucket list, take your rig across the Bay Bridge at Annapolis instead. The tunnel-bridge will never bother you again! Especially with a bit of wind blowing. Just don't look at anything except the center lane infront of you. You can request a driver to take you across if necessary, but it has to be arranged in advance.

[Johno02]

For your bucket list, take your rig across the Bay Bridge at Annapolis instead. The tunnel-bridge will never bother you again! Especially with a bit of wind blowing. Just don't look at anything except the center lane infront of you. You can request a driver to take you across if necessary, but it has to be arranged in advance.

[JimFromJersey]

RavensFan24 wrote:
if I can't utilize this bridge/tunnel then I have to go up and around the bay and that would easily add 100 miles to the trip.

For those who find the CBBT too nerve-wracking or otherwise impossible to do, there is another alternative that avoids 99% of the DC/Baltimore hassle.

Just north of Richmond, take 301 North. Follow it through Virginia, cross the Potomac into Maryland, there's a bit of stop-n-go through the LaPlata/Waldorf areas, but it's really not that bad, unless you hit it at 5:00PM on a Friday in the summer. Join up with US 50 west of Annapolis, take the Chesapeake Bay Bridge across the Bay there, and then stay on 301N up the Eastern Shore. US50 branches off a little ways into Maryland and heads to Ocean City MD, but 301 goes more or less north.

This is a very simple, easy drive - divided highway nearly all the way, flat, no traffic lights until you get up to Middletown DE.'

Once in Middletown, you can either stay on 301 and go north, or go a little farther east on DE 299 and get on DE 1 - either way, you connect with I-95 up near Wilmington.

301 through Virginia and the Eastern Shore is a very nice alternative.

[jchonroad]

No problems. We use EZ Pass, otherwise you need cash.. Just have to turn off propane and turn on headlights. Clearance is at least 13'6". (We are 12'6", so no problem there.) Going this way you save several hour travel time, and a lot less nerve racking, traffic-wise.
Have a safe trip.

[Crowe]

that should be on everyone's bucket list.

Have to disagree with this. Some people just get too nervous in these situations. My husband had difficulty due to the spacing of the lights-it made him very dizzy as he was driving. Although it's rare, there are some people who may be affected.

[dtgunner7]

We travel this route several times a year, heading north just past RIGHT toll booth you can pull over and shut off propane and a vistor center on north side. We use EZPass($32 36ft wtoad). If you are a good size RV don't use the restaurant, if a Little crowded you can't turn around. Nice ride but watch your speed in the little towns

[JimFromJersey]

The CBBT is crossed hundreds of times a day by RVs, campers and trucks of every stripe. So long as you meet the height restriction, you will be fine. It's one of those road trips that should be on everyone's bucket list. Yeah, it's not Highway 101 on the PCH or Grand Canyon's north rim, but it is quite the spectacular engineering marvel. The roads are divided for much of the journey, only going through the two 1-mile tunnels are you back on one-lane-in-each-direction.

Seagull Island, about seven or so miles up from Virginia Beach, is an OK stop, but can be problematic in a large RV - its entrance is off the southern end of the tunnel there, and makes for an interesting U-turn as you prepare to leave and head north again.

The best times to cross, IMO, are early in the AM and late in the evening, to see the sunrises and sunsets.

[NMDriver]

You Tube video north to south crossing

26 minutes long and he hits a heavy rain storm.