Federal officials projected this month that a new Woodrow Wilson bridge could cost 25 percent more than originally planned, and Maryland and Virginia leaders want the U.S. to cover the shortfall.

The bridge could cost $42.5 billion, boosting the price tag by half a billion dollars and decreasing the chances that construction will begin as planned.
If the original deadline set for this year is missed, the new span will not be completed until 2004, when highway engineers say they will have to ban heavy trucks from the crucial interstate link or spend large sums of money to maintain the deteriorating bridge for an additional year or two.
According to The Washington Post, governors of Maryland and Virginia have refused to proceed with the new construction until all funding is identified. They want Congress to pay the freight for what they see as a regional commuter connection and a key crossing on the East Coast's premier artery.