For the first time in months, the path to the airport is fully open.
Crews picked up the last bits of equipment and opened the George C. Platt Bridge (Pa. Route 291) in South Philly Friday morning marking an early end to a nearly-two-year-long project that left the 56,000 or so motorists that use the bridge daily driving single-file to and from Philadelphia Airport.
The construction project, which was expected to last two years, began in February 2012 as crews worked to replace the bridge that takes motorists from the Schuylkill Expressway (I-76) to I-95 near the airport.
During the repair project motorists often were funneled into cattle chutes and restricted to 35 mph speed limits. The road even would be entirely closed overnight so that crews could move equipment or change lane closures.
Earlier, PennDOT said it expected the roadway to open Saturday. But, as SkyForce10 hovered overhead Friday morning, two lanes of traffic in both directions crossed the bridge unimpeded for the first time since the project began.
