"That's going to be a nightmare, but they have to do it, I understand, or the bridge is going to fall apart," Anthony DeVirgillis of Sicklerville, NJ said.
56,000 vehicles travel across the span that stretches from South to Southwest Philadelphia, to and from the airport, I-95, and the sports complex.
Years of traffic, weather and road salt took a toll, so now the 61-year-old bridge will undergo a $43-million facelift that includes resurfacing, repairing and replacing parts.
80-percent of the funding is coming from the federal government, the rest from the state.
"There's a lot of work and we're finding more stuff as we go on," Harold Windisch of PennDOT said.
At 9:30 p.m. Monday night, the eastbound side was shut down as crews installed a concrete barrier. At midnight, the entire bridge wasl closed when work started on the westbound side. Then at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, work crews took down barriers to let traffic back on the span. One lane of eastbound traffic and both westbound lanes are open.
After a series of overnight closures, sometimes for the entire span, traffic on the Platt Bridge will be restricted to a single lane in both directions until June 2014.
No question about it, the one lane traffic pattern will cause delays.
"I think it's going to cause a lot inconvenience down here," Pat Diamond of South Philadelphia said.
"We're taking a lot of traffic from two lanes down to one lane so the rush hour's going to be a challenge," Windisch said.
The speed limit on the bridge will be reduced to 35 miles per hour. PennDOT will have a tow truck on standby at all times to clear accidents and they will post travel times on messageboards on surrounding roads. Still, it's best to choose your alternate routes now and allow extra time.
