Dunno how many of you are familiar with the situation in Rhode Island, but for the past few months, the westbound side of the Washington Bridge in Providence has been closed due to a critical structural failure that was discovered not by an inspector or state official, but by a maintenance worker, and it was recently announced that that entire side of the bridge will almost certainly have to be demolished and rebuilt. It's affected traffic and the economy all over the state, and with the Key Bridge having serviced a bigger area, no doubt the ramifications are going to be much, much greater (especially since the bridge is completely gone now rather than just one side being closed). One of the biggest concerns with the closure of the Washington Bridge that I haven't seen mentioned here is how it will affect emergency vehicles. Not sure if there are hospitals on both sides of the Key Bridge.
Regardless, the death and destruction here really puts into perspective what could have happened to the Washington Bridge on its own without such a catalyst had the structural failure not been discovered.