Salinas bridge construction on track to be completed by next summer

Drivers should expect to see delays as construction crews do some ramp work along a major artery from Salinas to Monterey. For a while now, drivers traveling on Highway 68 can’t miss the huge crane that’s part of the bridge widening project. That project includes ramp work between Spreckels Boulevard and Reservation. It will be going all week from 9:00 a.m.-3:00p.m. The project began in April of last year and isn’t expected to be finished until the summer of 2018. Caltrans Spokesperson Susana Cruz said you can’t compare the construction time on this bridge to that on Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge in Big Sur for one big reason. “The bridge that we’re doing on highway one is a accelerated bridge project. But an average bridge takes two to three years, easy,” said Susana Cruz. One lane in each direction is being added to the heavily used bridge, and it comes with a price tag of $9.8 million dollars.