BATON ROUGE – The state announced additional lane closures for the La. 1 bridge over the Intracoastal as contractors continue to do repairs to bridge joints.

The work caused a ruckus over the last few weeks when the temporary seams above the joints required drivers to slow to a near crawl to cross the bridge, leading to hours-long traffic jams. Then, the repairs were being done to the northbound lanes, backing up traffic toward Plaquemine.

Amid days of relentless reporting by WBRZ, the state announced rubber mats would be added to the temporary seams, lessening the abrupt bump when passing over the plates. The contractor also changed the schedule of the work so there would be fewer plates and one, unhindered lane.

The state warned drivers Friday that work and lane closures would be seen on northbound lanes over the next two weeks. The closures will be limited to the 7 p.m. to 4 a.m..

The state and contractor’s change to how the work was being done significantly lessened the traffic snarls.

WBRZ monitors the congestion across the region and will isolate the bridge traffic as the repairs continue. Watch for live traffic updates all day from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. on WBRZ and WBRZ Plus and on newscasts at noon, 4:00 and 5:00. Click HERE for live traffic information online.

********************

Follow the publisher of this post on Twitter: @treyschmaltz