It's just one lane, but it makes a world of difference to Greene County mountaintop residents: The Route 23 bridge across the Schoharie Creek in Prattsville is back in service once more.
The bridge was abruptly closed to traffic on Monday, September 10 after a state inspector noticed a fracture in a bottom truss.
Town supervisor Kory O'Hara told the Watershed Post that the bridge was reopened to one lane of traffic on the evening of Friday, September 14. With the bridge out of commission, anyone looking to get from one side of Route 23 to the other had to take a lengthy alternate route.
"It was about a fifteen-mile detour," O'Hara said.
Prattsville residents are probably relieved it wasn't longer. When the bridge was closed last week, officials at the state Department of Transportation originally told the Daily Mail that the repairs could take anywhere from "two days to two months."
