C.B.S. bypass hour-long traffic jam wasn't expected, David Brazil says

Transportation and Works Minister David Brazil is apologizing for a one-hour shut down of the Conception Bay South bypass during rush hour Wednesday but says the work needed to be done.

Crews were in the area assessing and working on ruts on the highway during afternoon hours when, Brazil said, the workers "ran into a glitch that slowed the problem down."

What contractors thought would be a short shut down of the highway extended into nearly an hour, Minister David Brazil said, with both lanes having to be shut down to complete the work.

"Unfortunately, sometimes it becomes an estimate of how long it will take for us to be able to open one lane, close another lane and move traffic around that," he said.

While it was an inconvenience, Brazil said the work had to be done, citing a short window of time available.

"There's thought gone into every angle, how we can minimize the impact on people, how we can move this as efficiently and as quickly as possible without jeopardizing safety and the quality of the work being done."

He said the work on the Conception Bay South bypass road should be completed by the end of the upcoming weekend.