(This story was updated to add new information.)
A new date has been set for the ribbon-cutting of the new Harbor Bridge, more than a month after it was first scheduled to be unveiled.
The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. June 28 on the main span of the bridge, the Texas Department of Transportation said in a news release on June 24. The event will not be open to the public, the news release said.
State Reps. Todd Hunter and Denise Villalobos previously told the Caller-Times about the new date, which had been shared with them by TxDOT officials, on June 16.
State, local and federal elected officials; Texas Transportation Commission members; and TxDOT administration will cut the ribbon to open southbound lanes of the new bridge, the news release said.
After the ribbon-cutting, a motorcade will take part in an inaugural crossing of the bridge by traveling over it in the southbound lanes.
The southbound lanes of the new bridge will open to the public around mid-afternoon June 28, TxDOT said in a news release on June 25. The northbound lanes of the new bridge are scheduled to open to the public in early July.
The agency originally scheduled the bridge’s ribbon-cutting ceremony for May 10, but it later postponed it due to construction elements related to “minor” elements of the bridge, including electrical, signing and drainage work.
The department previously said that the bridge would be temporarily opened on the day of the ribbon-cutting so that guests could walk or drive over the bridge to North Beach and back.
“Hurricane season started on June 1, so I have an interest in getting this bridge open because it’s an evacuation (route) and also a way to get the old bridge down so we can get the cargo ships coming in, because right now, you can’t bring in certain-sized ships,” Hunter said on June 16.
The new structure will replace the existing Harbor Bridge, constructed in the 1950s. The new Harbor Bridge will be taller, a design feature that will accommodate traffic for larger ships.
Construction began in 2016 but faced multiple delays. The project’s price tag swelled from $803 million to $1.2 billion.
It is expected to be the “tallest structure in South Texas,” according to previous reporting by the Caller-Times.
This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: After delay, officials share ribbon-cutting date for new Harbor Bridge
Reporting by Katie Nickas, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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