Portsmouth, Va. - The Downtown Tunnel is the most direct route to Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, but big closures are coming and that has a retired Navy commander worried.
“If I don't know where I'm going, if I haven't mapped it out and when you're sick and you need the emergency room of if it’s one of my family members that needs the emergency room, it's not the time to be figuring out which way to go,” says Bob Strait.
Starting this weekend and every weekend until next spring, the Downtown Tunnel westbound will close for construction.
Strait says he recently heard about the closures on NewsChannel 3 and not from the hospital. It's something he's concerned about considering he had a hip replacement a few months ago.
“I've always wanted to make sure I have an emergency room close by because if they can catch it early enough before it gets to the hip, if I have some sort of blood infection, they'd be able to cure it before they'd have to remove the hip,” says Strait.
He feels people at the Portsmouth Hospital should have done a better job getting the word out.
The Naval Medical Center issued the following statement:
We encourage our patients to review their TRICARE coverage - whether they have Prime, Extra or Standard - so they can make the best health care decisions for themselves and their families. For questions about TRICARE, please visit www.tricare.mil.
Alternate Routes:
Traffic will be detoured to the I-64 High Rise Bridge. Expect delays of up to 30 minutes.
Other alternate routes include Route 58 Midtown Tunnel, Route 13 Gilmerton Bridge and the tolled South Norfolk Jordan Bridge.
