Barricades have been removed at the Water Street ramp, which for nearly three years barred vehicles from traveling to Darktown.

Unlike the Dec. 3, 2015, ceremony that marked the long-awaited opening of the Hokendauqua-North Catasauqua Bridge over the Lehigh River, there was no ribbon cutting this time around.

Instead, on the eve of the Jan. 23 Winter Storm Jonas, the barricades came down on both ends of Water Street. Motorists may have even been unaware of the opening since the record 30-plus inches of snowfall covered roads across the Lehigh Valley.

But over the last several days, drivers have discovered they can again access Water Street, thereby ending detours that had vehicles on Front Street in Hokendauqua proceed west onto Lehigh Street, turn onto Seventh Street to Eberhart Road and then east onto Water Street in West Catasauqua.

Although the Hokendauqua-North Catasauqua Bridge had been open for two months, there was some unfinished business in the project. Whitehall Township Mayor Edward D. Hozza Jr. said the township had West Side Hammer, Bethlehem, erect streetlight poles. PPL has completed its tasks concerning the lights, concluding the final stage of the bridge construction.

The township paid $27,000 for the new light fixtures and lighting work.

Work also was completed on the south end of Bridge Street, the site of a former railroad underpass.