Causeway traffic is rebounding as cases of COVID-19 wane. It comes as the bridge over the lake has seen an improved safety record.
Causeway general manager Carlton Dufrechou says the 12 break-down bays they built, segments of the bridge with several hundred feet of shoulder, appear to have made a difference.
"Before COVID, we had'em operational for about six months. We saw in that period a reduction in crashes by about 30 percent," said Dufrechou.
Dufrechou says the higher guard rails are also already paying dividends.
"The rails, we know have been hit at least seven times," said Dufrechou, who says they have reason to believe that in three of those instances, the vehicles likely would have ended up in the lake had they struck the old guard rails.
The bride has not had an overboard incident on the south-bound span since May 14, 2019. There was one incident where a vehicle was knocked overboard at a crossover on April 27, 2020.
Traffic, naturally, fell during the pandemic, but Dufrechou says its recovered to about 90 percent of it's pre-pandemic level, also leading to a recovery in tolls, which were increased to help pay for the improvements.
"They're still not where they were pre-COVID, but right now we're probably about back to 90 percent of pre-COVID traffic volume," he said.
