All Northway northbound lanes open at Twin Bridges

A construction delay that kept the northbound side of the Thaddeus Kosciuszko Bridge closed for the morning rush hour Monday is not expected to be repeated during five other weekends of similar roadwork, a state Department of Transportation spokeswoman said.

Steel plates on the Twin Bridges took longer to install than anticipated, causing the northbound lanes of the bridge to be closed to all traffic until after noon Monday. For the evening commute, a single northbound lane was again closed as crews tried to secure a steel panel to the bridge deck.

"I do advise commuters to continue to find alternate routes while construction is ongoing, but we don't expect this type of problem going forward," DOT spokeswoman Carol Breen said earlier Wednesday, before the evening lane closing.

Work on replacement of the northbound deck is planned for five out of the next six weekends, with no roadwork set for Columbus Day holiday weekend. Traffic will be steered into one lane in each direction on the southbound side of the bridge. Next spring, the southbound lanes will be closed on a series of weekends while the deck is replaced as part of a $29 million project.

Commuters expressed frustration with the unexpected traffic snarl, which sent drivers over to Route 9 and caused bumper-to- bumper traffic there.

"You can't take the busiest highway in the area and put it on Route 9," said Joseph Menditto of Troy as he stopped for gas at a Stewart's just over the Mohawk River bridge in Halfmoon.

Lauren Osterhout of Clifton Park was similarly upset.

"It's awful. I don't understand why they are doing it, especially during the week," she said. "That's pretty bad."

But Bob Ballard of Colonie said he wasn't surprised.

Delays are commonplace in any construction project, he said, and he thought the plan to get the work done over the weekend was overly ambitious.

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All Northway northbound lanes open at Twin Bridges