FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) will resume on-demand openings for marine traffic at the Route 223 (Old Ferry Road) bridge over Milford Haven in Mathews County on Sunday, Oct. 15.

Since June 2021, openings for marine traffic had been limited to six scheduled times a day.

The 85-year-old moveable bridge will resume request openings 24 hours a day with work nearly complete on a major rehabilitation project.

The $10.7 million project improved the mechanical and electrical elements that operate the bridge’s movable swing span, made spot structural steel repairs, and renovated the bridge tender house.

Built in 1938, the bridge which connects Gwynn's Island to mainland Mathews opens approximately 3,000 times a year, which is more than any other state-maintained movable bridge in Virginia.

The bridge’s navigational clearance is 11 feet vertically and 80 feet horizontally when closed. Watercraft that cannot navigate underneath the bridge within this clearance requires an opening.

Bridge openings for marine traffic will continue to occur on a schedule, up to six times a day until Sunday at the following times: 2 a.m., 5 a.m., 8 a.m., 11 a.m., 7 p.m., and 10 p.m.

Temporary traffic signals were removed from each end of the bridge's approaches in late September. Two-way traffic on Route 223 (Old Ferry Road) resumed crossing the bridge at that time.

Travelers on Route 223 (Old Ferry Road) over Milford Haven will experience brief delays with the on-demand bridge openings.

Bridge crews estimate 10 minutes to safely open, allow a boat to travel further into Milford Haven then close the structure to reopen the road to traffic.

Travelers may check 511Virginia.org for real-time updates.

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VDOT’s 14-county Fredericksburg District includes the counties of Caroline, King George, Spotsylvania and Stafford in the Fredericksburg area; Northumberland, Richmond, Lancaster and Westmoreland counties in the Northern Neck; Essex, Gloucester, King & Queen, King William, Mathews and Middlesex counties in the Middle Peninsula.