BALTIMORE, Md. — Baltimore is repairing sections of the Hanover Street Bridge/Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge while planning continues for its long-term future, a process expected to take years and ultimately cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
The city says the 110-year-old bridge remains safe, but its aging design requires ongoing maintenance. Drivers, cyclists and pedestrians who use it regularly say its condition raises concerns.
Ivan DeGraff has biked to work across the bridge for two years. But when he reaches the bridge, he gets off and walks his bike across.
"Because if the truck is big enough that the middle part lifts up, believe it or not, it'll buckle and it'll bounce," DeGraff said.
He said the bridge has gotten worse over time, and walking it gives him a closer look at its condition.
"I can see the road and the river through the bottom of the bridge. You can see straight through," DeGraff said.
DeGraff photographed a hole in the bridge in early July. When it wasn't repaired quickly, he contacted WMAR-2 News Mallory Sofastaii.
"The city for some reason thought that a steel plate would cover it up, but it's been moved, which I don't understand how someone would move a metal grate," DeGraff said. "It's a scary trip across that bridge."
WMAR-2 News shared the photo with the Baltimore Department of Transportation.
The department said crews were already replacing deteriorated sections of the open-grid metal decking and that the replacement panels for the area shown in DeGraff's photo "are now being manufactured and will be installed once fabrication is complete."
Officials added that the bridge's open-grid metal decking "reflects a 110-year-old bridge design that, while outdated, remains safe and functional." However, they said it "experiences routine wear and requires periodic removal and replacement of deteriorated sections."
The city's most recent bridge inspection, conducted December 8, 2025, identified areas of deteriorated decking, including one of the sections currently under repair.
According to the department, repairs to the open-grid decking are mostly complete. To reopen the middle lane, crews must repair another section once replacement panels are fabricated.
The department also said steel plates are installed over deteriorated areas "so that the bridge can safely remain open until repairs are made."
Drivers may notice slight movement while crossing the bridge. The city said that's expected because the structure is engineered to "expand, contract, and flex safely under load."
For DeGraff, those repairs feel more like a temporary fix than a long-term solution.
"Oh, we're going to put some traffic cones, we're just going to put a metal grate over the hole, so they think that we're fixing it," DeGraff said. "I am shaken when I cross that bridge."
Nearly 29,000 vehicles travel the half-mile bridge each day, according to the Maryland Department of Transportation's Traffic Monitoring System.
And what to do with the bridge has been debated for years.
The city resurfaced the roadway in 2018 after exposed concrete and rebar caused flat tires, then completed a major deck rehabilitation in 2021. Even then, transportation officials acknowledged that a major rehabilitation or replacement would take years and cost more than $100 million.'
READ MORE: Extending the life of the Hanover Street Bridge
Years later, the bridge's long-term future remains unclear.
The city is finalizing the selection of a consultant engineering team to begin planning the future of the bridge and the entire Hanover Street Corridor. According to the Department of Transportation, the federally funded project will focus on planning and preliminary design over the next four years, with "any long-term recommendations for the bridge" addressed through that process.
In an April 2026 letter to the Maryland Department of Transportation outlining the city's transportation priorities, Baltimore officials wrote that construction of a selected alternative for the bridge "could exceed $250 million." Baltimore received a $15.5 million federal RAISE grant in 2024 to fund planning, environmental review and preliminary design, but officials say additional state and federal funding will be needed before a replacement can move forward.
Until then, maintaining the Hanover Street Bridge costs about $500,000 each year, according to the city.
DeGraff hopes officials act before a more serious problem develops.
"I would hate for it to take something crazy happening for them to, you know, let's do something about it instead of waiting for it to fall, let's fix it," DeGraff said.
The Revitalize Hanover Street Corridor Project extends 2.4 miles from Interstate 95 to the Anne Arundel County line. The city says the goal is to "deliver a modern transportation network for South Baltimore communities long impacted by industrialization and heavy through-traffic," while reconnecting neighborhoods and shaping the bridge's long-term future.