Saint John bridge faces another delay

The Saint John Harbour Bridge is facing another set back in construction after crews were unable to open a third lane on Sunday night.

The ongoing construction on the Harbour Bridge has been causing traffic delays in the city. There is often a 500-metre lineup of vehicles waiting to pass through the toll booths during peak traffic periods.

That traffic backlog was supposed to be eased with the opening of an additional eastbound lane on Sunday night.

However, Ken Anthony, the general manager of the Harbour Bridge Authority, said the heavy rain experienced last week is to blame for the latest delay.

Anthony said much of the remaining work, such as pouring concrete, was dependent on dry weather.

But Saint John, as well as much of southern New Brunswick, was hit by a five-day deluge of rain last week.

"We had five days where they really couldn't do anything productive at all," Anthony said.

The third lane was supposed to open on Sunday night and has been postponed until late Monday night or Tuesday.

The last lane is set to reopen by the end of the month.

In the meantime, Joel Hansen, the acting transportation supervisor, said Saint John Transit is hoping they've won over motorists who hopped on their buses to avoid traffic delays.

Hansen said ridership and the sales of monthly passes are both up since the bridge construction started.

"The people that are riding buses now, I think come the wintertime and construction season is over, I think people will maintain riding [the buses]," Hansen said.