At its opening in 1964, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel was named one of the "Five Wonders of the Modern World" by Reader's Digest magazine. It was the culmination of a concerted, decade-long push by a group of men, led by Lucius J. Kellam Jr., an Eastern Shore native and businessman who dreamed of opening up the remote Eastern Shore to the bustling Virginia mainland. This $200-million, 17.6-mile-long series of bridges, tunnels, islands, and trestle in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay - long dismissed as impractical and even impossible - won the attention of the world at its opening. It also brought an abrupt end to the ferry service that was long a cornerstone of the New York-to-Florida "Ocean Highway," shuttling millions of cars between the Eastern Shore and Hampton Roads. John Warren wrote the "Road Warrior" column for the Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia, from 1999 to 2009. His reporting included transportation and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. He has also worked at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, Virginia. Warren lives with his family in Gloucester County, Virginia.