SAN ANTONIO – Drivers in one San Antonio neighborhood are having an easier time getting around now that a bridge project is complete.
The Walters Street bridge, which had been closed since February for resurfacing, reopened Friday.
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On Monday morning, a steady stream of traffic drove across it to cross over a railroad yard below it.
Tanya Brown, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Transportation, told KSAT 12 News last month that crews were working to resurface the bridge.
She said at that time that the project was expected to be completed by Thanksgiving.
The reopening Friday was days ahead of that expected deadline.
Brown said crews still need to add striping to the bridge and complete some rail work.
While the bridge was closed, signs directed traffic to use nearby N. New Braunfels Avenue as a detour.
That street, however, was in the middle of a construction project, itself.
Razi Hosseini, the director of the city’s Public Works department, explained that the work was part of a $9.5 million overhaul that included improvements to sidewalks, sewer lines and street drainage.
He said at the time that crews would be finishing up within a few days.
As of Monday morning, though, N. New Braunfels Ave. once again was a maze of orange cones that have come and gone several times during the past few weeks.
In an email, Nicholas Olivier, a spokesman for public works, explained that the contractor had to re-do some of the work that already was completed.
Olivier said those crews would be removing and replacing two inches of asphalt.
He said the city “wants to ensure that the final product is of the highest quality.”
The corrections, Olivier said, are being done at the expense of the contractor.
If the weather permits, the job should be completed by the end of the month, he said.