Early reopening: Rochester-Monaca Bridge reopens to single-lane traffic

MONACA ― After three months of traffic disruptions and detours, PennDOT has announced that motorists can travel along the heavily used Rochester-Monaca Bridge again.

According to road crews, the bridge reopened earlier than expected on Friday afternoon after all the work requiring a full closure was completed. Traffic will still be restricted to a single lane until late September, so motorists utilizing the road may want to plan for potential delays during popular travel times.

Crews closed the bridge on June 11 to conduct expansion dam joint replacements, zone painting, concrete deck overlay, steel, concrete, sidewalk, barrier repairs and other miscellaneous construction activities. During the continued restrictions, crews will be completing pier work, downspout work, and other finishing touches to the project.

The closure has meant detours that sometimes added a half hour or more to commutes through the area and traffic backups on Pennsylvania Avenue in Monaca and Route 65 in Rochester Township. It originally wasn't expected to reopen until Aug. 20.

During the continued work, the following restrictions will be in place:

Rochester-Monaca Bridge (Route 18)

• Single-lane alternating traffic will occur on the bridge from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays.

Route 51

• Single-lane restrictions will occur on westbound Route 51 in Rochester from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays between the South Route 18/East Route 68 Rochester off-ramp and the North Route 51/West Route 68 Beaver/Chippewa off-ramp.

In addition to those restrictions, additional work is expected to take place soon at the intersection of 17th Street (Route 51) and Pennsylvania Avenue. PennDOT has not provided details on that project at this time.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Early reopening: Rochester-Monaca Bridge reopens to single-lane traffic