State officials today break ground on an $89.5 million construction project that will double the northern access to the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which carries Interstate 695 traffic across the Patapsco River.

The Key Bridge is the least traveled route across Baltimore's harbor. The bridge handles one-fourth the traffic of most other parts of the Beltway. Its average daily load of 25,000 vehicles compares with more than 100,000 along most of I-695.