News Photo by Julie Riddle Drivers cross the Bagley Street bridge shortly after it reopened on Friday afternoon.

ALPENA – After nearly a year of being closed, the Bagley Street Bridge in Alpena is now open to motorized traffic.

Speed limits will be reduced in the area of the bridge, which is still considered a construction zone, and it will likely be closed again for a spell in the spring for the balance of the project to be completed.

The project, which began in February, was expected to be done in mid-November, but the COVID-19 pandemic, supply-chain issues, and employee shortage caused the project to be pushed back by about a month.

Once the bridge was closed, many motorists were forced to utilize a detour through main streets of Alpena, which caused significant traffic congestion and many crashes over the months.

The bridge has undergone a complete renovation and the deck on the new bridge will be double the width, and include a turn lane, and a passenger sidewalk, and a mixed-use sidewalk.

The cost of the project was in the neighborhood of $10.3 million.