The bridge that spans West Bay on Highway 79 is complete and should open any day now.  The existing brige in place is new, but has been open for several years now.  This new addition is in preparation for future demand of that roadway.

In anticipation of a greater future need, all of the piercaps installed are actually wide enough to accomodate an additional lane.

“It’s stupid,” said one worker on the site, “they’ll have to cut down the entire sidewall in order to expand the bridge [for an addional lane].”  The actual brige structure is in place for an additional lane, but in order to expand, the bridge will have to be closed down, the western most bridge sidewall will have to be destroyed, then planks will need to be laid for the concrete work.

“It will be complex,” said another worker, “but at least the DOT is thinking ahead.”