A vehicle passes over the newly reopened Fruit Street bridge Friday. PHOTO/JOHN CARDILLO

The Fruit Street bridge that carries traffic over the MBTA/CSX Railroad and the Sudbury River in Westborough and Hopkinton was reopened to travel Friday afternoon, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced.

The bridge closure has been in place since November 2021 to allow construction operations to take place as part of the $12.5 million bridge replacement project.

MassDOT noted that construction still is ongoing, and as such, lane closures will be required when work is taking place next construction season to bring the bridge to its final condition by the summer of 2024.

As previously reported, work initially was projected to last about a year. The estimated finishing date was pushed back to the spring and then the fall due to “an unforeseen design issue that resulted from the depth of existing bedrock on which the piles are founded,” explained MassDOT spokesperson Judith Reardon-Riley.

The second bridge on Fruit Street, which spans I-495, also is being reconstructed as part of the I-90/I-495 Interchange Improvement Project, but it has been open to alternating one-way traffic.