Get ready for a new two-way bridge in downtown Fresno

After more than a year of jackhammers, road closures and annoying detours, the Tuolumne Street bridge is getting ready to open. If you have driven by the downtown bridge lately you’ve seen work crews paving or installing lighting.

Road striping will take place the week of May 15 and the entire project is expected to be open to two-way traffic by the end of May or early June, said Toni Tinoco, California High-Speed Rail Authority spokeswoman.

Yes, you heard right, two-way traffic. Once Tuolumne opens, the nearby Stanislaus Street bridge that carries traffic west will be demolished. Now, you don’t have to figure out which bridge goes which direction.

The old Tuolumne bridge carried eastbound traffic across the Union Pacific Railroad freight tracks in downtown Fresno. It was leveled to make way for California's high-speed train project. The new, taller bridge is high enough for high-speed trains and the electrical lines to power them.

Tinoco says a ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held when the project is complete. The date has not been set.

This story was originally published May 13, 2017 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Get ready for a new two-way bridge in downtown Fresno."