State officials have opened southbound lanes of I-495 a month ahead of schedule. At approximately 5 Thursday afternoon a stream of cars came over the bridge, drivers honking horns and extending ‘thumbs-up’ to cameras and gathered press as they drove by.
DelDOT Secretary Shailen Bhatt and Governor Jack Markell (D-Delaware) announced the reopening at the foot of the northbound span, saying the project passed a stress test after jacking the bridge to realign the tilted span.
The news comes just a day after the agency announced beginning the jacking process and Secretary Bhatt says work continues on the northbound lanes, and he’s confident in reopening those lanes before Labor Day.
“It is entirely possible that we will not open northbound until September 1. If things go as well with northbound as they've gone with southbound, we'll be looking at an accelerated schedule, but that's the window right now.”
Bhatt insists that safety is the number one priority and DelDOT will monitor the bridge around the clock. He adds drivers should expect some closures as work on the northbound lanes is completed.
“We will need to probably close the bridge a couple of times over the next few weeks, either for minor tweaks or for jacking of the northbound structure," he said. "Those are planned. We’ll try to do them around weekends or evening off peak hours.”
Bhatt attributed the speedy resolution to good weather, adequate resources and funding, and the hard work of contractors and engineers hired to complete the necessary work.