Most of the steel plates on the westbound span of the bridge will be removed before the Memorial Day weekend, when 355,000 motorists - a 3 percent increase from last year - are expected to cross the bridge. Officials said the work will resume in the fall.

The authority had always planned to stop work during the summer to "minimize disruptions for motorists," officials said.

The following westbound lane closures were announced for next week:

One lane closed from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday.

The span will be closed from 8 p.m. Monday to 5 a.m. Tuesday, with two-way traffic on the eastbound span.

The span will be closed from 8 p.m. Tuesday to 5 a.m. Wednesday, with two-way traffic on the eastbound span.

The span will be closed from 8 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday, with two-way traffic on the eastbound span.

Accidents clog northbound traffic

Commuters heading north could not catch a break this morning as a deadly crash and two other wrecks tied up interstates from Parole to the Baltimore Beltway.

Just after 7 a.m. a tractor-trailer crashed into the back of another tractor-trailer on the outer loop of Interstate 695 near Route 10, said Cpl. Jonathan Green, a Maryland Transportation Authority Police spokesman. The driver of the truck that struck the second truck was killed, police said.

His age and identity were not available this morning, though police said he is from Maryland.

The other driver was taken by ambulance to Harbor Hospital in Baltimore with minor injuries, said Division Chief Michael Cox, a county Fire Department spokesman.

A mile-long section of the outer loop remained closed as of press time while investigators re-created the scene and tried to separate the two vehicles, Cpl. Green said. Vehicles were being rerouted onto Route 10.

An hour after the crash, traffic on Interstate 97 just north of Route 50 backed up for about 45 minutes while Maryland State Police cleared two crashes that happened simultaneously. The two crashes involved two vehicles each, and both happened in the left lane of I-97 northbound, police said. No injuries were reported.

Crabber money moves forward

The effort to obtain federal money for struggling Chesapeake Bay crabbers continues to inch forward.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved giving $75 million to commercial fishermen in the Chesapeake Bay, the Pacific Northwest, the Gulf Coast and the Northeast as part of an emergency supplemental spending package, according to the office of U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Maryland.

Those regions have been hit with fishery problems that affect commercial watermen and others. Officials from Maryland and Virginia are seeking a federal fishery disaster declaration on the blue crab fishery in the bay.

The blue crab's population and reproduction has declined, and officials from the two states are pushing to reduce the harvest.

Maryland and Virginia officials are hoping to get $15 million in federal assistance over three years.

The spending package now goes to the Senate floor. It also still needs approval by the House of Representatives.

- From staff reports