Latest opening date for new bridge: Sept. 30

The region’s most persistent traffic headache may be nearing an end.

The expected reopening for all lanes of the U.S. 90 bridge is now 10 days away, a Department of Transportation and Development spokeswoman said Tuesday.

The expected reopening date for the bridge is Sept. 30, the DOTD’s Diedra Druilhet said. The work is regarded as 99% complete, and equipment is being removed from the bridge.

Sept. 30 will be more than three years since traffic was restricted, and the westbound onramp at Federal Avenue and the eastbound onramp in Berwick were closed, to accommodate the $12 million refurbishing of the bridge. The original schedule called for the work to be complete in summer 2021, weather permitting.

The weather, and other setbacks, didn’t permit.

The contract with Tarpon Springs, Florida-based Seminole Equipment Inc. called for sandblasting and repainting the bridge. While work has been underway, traffic on the four-lane bridge was limited to one lane in either direction.

The work has been slowed recently by rain, and has been delayed over the course of the project by the active 2020 hurricane season, Hurricane Ida in 2021, the COVID-19 epidemic and a shortage of paint.

As of 2021, Druilhet said, an average of 32,000 vehicles a day use the bridge.

The restricted traffic has led to other problems, including traffic tie-ups and accidents on the aging Long-Allen bridge that carries La. 182 across Berwick Bay.

In July 2021, for example, a truck carrying a trailer full of concrete debris hit the old bridge’s guard rail, dumping concrete on a house below and closing the bridge for three days. Traffic over the bay was limited to the single eastbound and westbound lanes on the new bridge until the La. 182 structure was partially opened for rush-hour traffic.