The Kittanning Street Bridge will open Wednesday. A new steal beam bridge has been installed in a $2.3 million project.

The Kittanning Street bridge will open Wednesday with the completion of a project that lasted several months.

The state Department of Transportation closed the bridge in June to replace it with a new steel beam span. The $2.3-million project was done by Mekis Construction of Fenelton.

The bridge spans Connoquenessing Creek between the East Jefferson Street and Portman Road intersections.

Traffic has been detoured around the bridge using Routes 68 and 8.

The contractor originally planned on replacing the bridge one half at a time, keeping one lane open to traffic.

However, closing the bridge completely enabled the work time to be reduced from more than 10 months to less than five months.

Butler Mayor Tom Donaldson said he is sure residents and business owners near the bridge will be happy to see it open to traffic.

“It was a temporary inconvenience, but it’ll be a long-term benefit,” he said.