Open again. After a weekend of rerouted traffic and travel headaches, the Ironton-Russell Bridge is taking traffic again.

Ohio Department of Transportation District 9 spokeswoman Kathleen Fuller said the project to repair portions of the deck of the span took longer than expected, shoving back the reopening of the bridge until 1 p.m. Monday.

"I hate to use the old saying 'the best laid plans of mice and men,' but it's true," Fuller said. "We understand how vital the bridge is to the Ironton and Russell communities and we thank people for their patience."

Fuller said the original plan called for the bridge to close at 8 p.m. Friday to allow Intech Contracting of Lexington, Ky., to repair the asphalt on the Ohio approach to the bridge deck.

The plan called for the bridge to reopen at 4 p.m. Saturday, in time for late afternoon traffic, and then close again from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

But Fuller said it became apparent toward the end of last week that the project was moving more slowly than anticipated.

Crews were supposed to pour a fast-drying variety of concrete onto the deck midday Sunday and allow 4 to 6 hours for it to cure. But workers notified ODOT District 9 officials Sunday afternoon that the concrete work was delayed until

6 p.m.

"Then we began having bad weather," Fuller said. "The cold temperatures and rain are not good conditions for pouring concrete. The weather didn't cooperate and things just didn't go as planned."

Fuller said workers will make repairs to the Kentucky approach to the bridge this week, but were not expected to close the bridge during this time.

"They have plans to maintain one lane of traffic and use flaggers," Fuller said. "Work should start this (Monday) evening."

Meanwhile, merchants on both sides of the river say the bridge closure has impacted their business.

Tom Allyn, owner of Allyn's Jewelers on South Second Street, said a large percentage of his business comes from Kentucky.

"We're having an anniversary sale this week and we were doing well until the bridge closed.

Having the bridge closed has just killed us," Allyn said. "People on their way to Russell who might see our signs and stop in aren't coming downtown. They're on their way to U.S. 52 and Ashland. People in Russell are having to go through Ashland and they'll stop and spend their money there.

"It seems like they do this to us all the time. How many years have they worked on that bridge during shopping season?"

Allyn applauded the news that one-way traffic is expected to be maintained this week through the use of flaggers, and said such a plan should have been used all along.

Allyn's business neighbor, C and S Carryout, also felt the financial crunch when bridge traffic came to a halt.

"We had no business," general manager Ralph Whitman said. "We closed as 8 p.m. Friday and didn't open back up until 1 p.m. (Monday)

I'd say more than 90 percent of our business comes from Kentucky. Some people drive 45 minutes to get here, not just from Russell, but all over that area."

A few blocks away, the aisles in Tipton's Foodland were noticeably less crowded.

"We could tell a difference when I did the deposits," Kim Tipton, general manager, said. "You have something like the bridge this close to your store and yes, it does make a difference. It hurts us when that bridge is closed."

Tipton agreed with Allyn that Ironton business owners had the same concern this time last year when work on the bridge at the start of the holiday shopping season -- a time when business owners are expecting to make a decent profit -- put a dent in sales.

"They need to keep that bridge open," Tipton said. "They did this to us this time last year and here we go again."

The same sentiments were echoed on the other side of the river.

Corbie Stull, owner of the Bellefonte Academy of Beauty and Corbie's Gift Shop, said the bridge closing meant fewer Lawrence Countians coming across the river to shop in his establishments.

"It was a ghost town," Stull said of the weekend. "I'd say business at my stores were cut in half."

Stull leases space to Cigs For Less, a tobacco outlet. He said he saw less traffic there as well.

"Small businesses are having it rough already," he said.

Stull predicted hard times for downtown Russell businesses when the current bridge is replaced by a new one that is expected to be built several blocks away, out of the downtown area.

"It's going to devastate the whole community," he said. "I don't think the people in Russell who opposed the bridge realize how badly it will affect the businesses here. It's a shame."

Across the street, Connie Canterbury, associate manager of the SuperQuik convenience mart, was counting money, trying to wait on customers and helping employees at the same time Monday afternoon.

"I don't have time to talk," she said with a smile. "When the bridge opened back up we got flooded. When it was closed it hurt us, but when they opened the bridge we had people waiting in line to get in here at one time."