New gates on U.S. Route 50 near the Chesapeake Bay Bridge will be part of an elaborate, first-of-its-kind automated lane-closure system.The Maryland Transportation Authority said the new $58 million project is designed to improve worker safety and save drivers time.Over the past five years, two-way traffic operations on the Bay Bridge resulted in 108 crashes -- 82% of which were rear-end collisions and 8% were head-on collisions. According to state officials who supplied the statistics, the causes include distracted driving, following too closely and excessive speed."We do expect a reduction in secondary crashes that can occur where motorists are not paying attention to what's coming up. By giving them more information, they will be more aware of what to expect to get out of any kind of harm's way in traffic," said Will Pines, the MDTA's executive director.The automated lane-closure system components will alert drivers to lane closures starting 2 1/2 miles prior to the Bay Bridge on the Western Shore and 1 1/2 miles from the bridge on the Eastern Shore."This setup involves a series of different devices. These devices include the lane-use control signals, which is the regulatory device that tells you whether or not you can be in a lane. Additionally, we have supplemental devices, such as the gates themselves. Then, we have DMS boards, full-color DMS, which is the dynamic message signs, and then we have some illuminated pavement markings," said Jim Harkness, an MDTA engineer.The 46 gates that will partially close highway lanes in either direction are an added visual reminder for drivers. The automated process will replace the current labor-intensive placement of cones and barrels. The new system will take between 10 and 15 minutes to implement."This will allow us to implement and deploy the lane closures faster, so we get more construction time, more work done and not interrupt progress and also manage incidents better," Pines said.Some travelers are impressed with the new system."I don't mind knowing why I am waiting in traffic rather than sitting wondering if there is an accident or something," said Alice Carney."Anything to streamline traffic (is good)," said Chad Pettit."Anything that adds to the safety of workers is a good thing," said Jeff Carney.The project started in 2020. The system is also tied into weigh station improvements and electronic tolling. Motorists will start seeing the gates in action sometime in the fall.