NATCHEZ — The westbound Natchez to Vidalia span of the Mississippi River bridge opened two lanes of traffic Thursday afternoon, more than six months ahead of schedule.

Mississippi Department of Transportation public information officer, Jas N. Smith said both bridges could be fully open at some point today after striping is finished.

“Contractors are striping the lanes (and) moving some of the barricades out,” Smith said Thursday afternoon, “This should be the last of the big closures. They may have smaller things to do that would require temporary closures.”

Smith said work on both bridges is mostly finished aside from cosmetic needs such as landscaping and signage.

The westbound bridge, which carries U.S. 84 traffic over the Mississippi River, closed its lanes in July 2017 for a $27 million pin-and-link replacement project as well as a new paint job.

After unforeseen weather complications, contractors quickened their pace to make up for lost time, Smith said, which ultimately put them ahead of schedule.

“The original contract deadline was April of 2019,” he said. “We’re going to be done by the end of this month with everything. … These crews have worked very hard and worked every day they’ve had available. … We’re really excited to be able to open this bridge back up for regular traffic flow.”

One lane of the westbound opened back up in July of this year for some routine maintenance, Smith said, and MDOT officials are meeting at 9 a.m. today for a full update on the bridges’ progress.

Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell said he is very glad to see one bridge open and is eagerly anticipating smoother traffic with no orange cones.

“I’m glad it’s open, and they’re actually ahead of schedule,” Grennell said. “Now we can have traffic flow much smoother. I’ve noticed that barrels and cones were getting knocked over by passing cars. I’ll be glad to see those taken up.”

Vidalia Mayor Buz Craft said he has been out of town and has yet to see the bridge open but is looking forward to both bridges being open when he returns.

“Seeing both bridges open would be wonderful, and I hope they are,” Craft said. “It seems like most of my term since I’ve been elected they have been barricaded.”