A mechanical issue that closed the Lagoon Pond drawbridge for hours and a vehicle crash near the bottom of Main Street caused severe traffic in Vineyard Haven Tuesday.
At around 4 pm, The Times heard reports from several people that the automated safety barriers at the drawbridge, located between Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven, were stuck down and prevented any vehicle traffic from crossing. Traffic backed up on both sides of the bridge along Beach Road near the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and M.V. Shipyard, and Vineyard Transit Authority buses were rerouted and delayed. Cars were turned back from the bridge for hours.
John Goggin, a spokesperson for MassDOT, which manages the bridge, sent The Times a press release at around 5:30 pm that stated the bridge was “stuck open” and “closed to vehicular travel due to a mechanical issue.” This closure remained in place until repairs were completed shortly after 7:50 pm, and the bridge was reopened, Goggin later told The Times.
“There was an electrical issue with the motors powering the bridge gates. Repairs have been completed, and the gates are operational,” Goggin wrote in an email.
Separately, around the same time that the drawbridge closed to traffic, a Tesla drove into a building across from the Martha’s Vineyard Bank in V.H. on State Road. Traffic was temporarily stalled on Beach Street and at the intersection of Edgartown–Vineyard Haven Road and State Road while the car was towed.
Tisbury Police confirmed the incident that led to the crash was caused by a medical issue with the driver. No major damage or injuries occurred as result of the crash, police said.
Only on Martha’s Vineyard can there be a bridge that even when it’s working is interminably slow.
On this occasion, when the bridge managed to go up, a total of one (!) sailboat drifted through, while hundreds of cars, many idling their engines, sat waiting. Still, the multiple pairs of gates had to fold down. Waiting, waiting, the light remained red.
Not until cars in the very front began making u-turns did we realize that there was a problem.
I joined them, passing everyone behind me and thinking that I might avoid further delays by traveling to Edg/VH Road via Skiff Ave. I wasn’t the only one with that idea, unfortunately. Additional patience required.
Finally able to head toward the Roundabout, it was bumper- to-bumper all the way. An hour to travel from Vineyard Haven to Oak Bluffs!
Does the Lagoon Bridge have to rise and fall six times per day for the convenience of a few, and the inconvenience of many?