The new Stroudwater Street Bridge was expected to open by Thursday morning, before the morning commute.

The completion of the bridge comes three weeks ahead of schedule and eight and a half months after it began.

“We’re pleased the contractor has met the construction schedule and pleased to reopen that corridor to traffic,” said Westbrook City Administrator Jerre Bryant.

Bryant said the city had hoped the Maine Turnpike Authority would have the bridge opened sooner but was pleased, nonetheless. According to police, the closure of the bridge didn’t cause any major traffic issues beyond the first couple days the bridge was closed. However, many believed the closure turned out better than expected.

Dan Paradee, spokesman for the Maine Turnpike Authority said in a previous interview that the project had a tight deadline without a whole lot of leeway, but the contract had incentives for finishing in mid to late October, which the contractor did.

By all accounts, the diverting of 8,000 to 10,000 cars a day from the bridge onto alternate routes in Westbrook caused a headache for travelers but nothing more than was expected, and in some cases, the problems were even less than expected.

Traffic was heavier on several streets and tended to back up in the morning and evenings on Spring and Saco streets particularly, but the patterns settled down and cars moved relatively smoothly, according to Westbrook police and the Turnpike Authority. To accommodate traffic flow changes caused by the bridge closure, Westbrook police monitored traffic and adjusted the timing of lights at the intersections of William Clark Drive and Stroudwater, Spring, and Saco streets, as well as the intersection of Saco and New Gorham streets.

John Searles, a Westbrook resident who owns a business on Stroudwater Street, said shortly after the bridge closure that things were better than he thought they would be. “I think the plan is working,” said Searles, who spoke against closing the bridge. “Personally, as a resident, I’m pleased. All in all, my opinion is they did a tremendous job.”

When the issue was being decided, Westbrook residents spoke out against a full closure, as did Searles. At that time, Westbrook officials and residents wanted to keep one lane open on the bridge and made that known to the Turnpike Authority.

The Authority wanted to close the bridge to shorten the construction time and reduce construction costs. The Authority relented to Westbrook’s wishes, but then Portland officials said they wanted to have the bridge closed. Acting on that request, the Turnpike Authority went back to its original plan to close the bridge.

“The city of Portland and residents of the Stroudwater area had concerns,” Portland Director of Public Works Mike Bobinsky said in an interview just after the bridge closed.

Those concerns included backups during morning and evening hours and pedestrian safety along the Portland side of the bridge, according to Bobinsky. Another concern was getting the construction done as quickly and inexpensively as possible.

Bobinsky said public safety was not a problem because ambulances and fire trucks wouldn’t be using that corridor during emergencies because it would be unreliable with only one lane open.

Workers put the finishing touches on the new Stroudwater Street Bridge, which opens this week after eight and a half months of demolition and construction.