You may have seen the Galveston Daily News article about the underwater explosions scheduled to help demolish the supports under the spans of old bridge. The first of a series of blasts is scheduled for 8 a.m. on Sunday, July 9, and the bridge will be closed for at least 20 minutes in both directions (unless turtles are spotted, and then all bets are off until the turtles clear out).
I heard from one of our many mainland commuters that traffic over Galveston Bay was starting to flow better. Unfortunately, it may slow up again in a few weeks. The plan, after the first blast and barring a sudden migration of endangered sea turtles or uncooperative weather, is to switch southbound drivers to the new bridge (southbound traffic is currently using one of the old spans). The switch is supposed to take place Monday, July 17, after rush hour. All traffic will then share the new bridge until the second new span is complete, in fall of 2008.