Reports that the Hokendauqua-North Catasauqua Bridge won't be open to traffic until July 2015 are unfounded.

Rick Molchany, Lehigh County director of general services, told The Press he has had regular update meetings with the contractor.

Information he has obtained there indicate it will be open a few months earlier – in April 2015.

Molchany shed some light on why the bridge will not be finished this fall, as originally forecast.

For one thing, the icy winter weather of 2013-14 took a toll on crews' ability to complete construction tasks.

Another delay was caused by construction of the first massive pier on the Hokendauqua side of the span, he said.

According to Molchany the contractor had a difficult time preparing for that pier's construction, hitting bedrock on that site.

This extra work gobbled up funding for several piers and required additional time.

Reports that the contractor relocated workers to speed up construction at the firm's other construction sites on the American Parkway project in Allentown and the Lehigh River Bridge are unfounded, according to Molchany.

Progress is being made now, particularly with the dry summer weather.

So far, no schedule is set for putting the decking on the bridge.

As soon as the Hokendauqua-North Catasauqua Bridge is open, construction will begin on the Coplay-Northampton span.

This will be another two-year project.