HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — The 31st Street Bridge, which connects Proctorville and Huntington, be reduced to one lane for cleaning and painting.

The West Virginia Division of Highways recently awarded a contract to perform cleaning and painting east Huntington bridge and access ramp bridges and was schedule to begin setup for the job today.

In order to perform the work, traffic traveling across the 31st Street Bridge will be reduced to one lane and a temporary traffic signal will be utilized to alternate northbound and southbound traffic. The lane reduction is tentatively scheduled to begin by the end of May and will be in place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In addition to this contract work, the WVDOH will perform a routine bridge inspection and traffic will be reduced to one lane from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. May 18-22.

On Monday, May 18, the bridge will be closed to all traffic from 7 p.m.-6 a.m. Motorists should expect delays and are encouraged to use alternate routes when possible.

The contract was awarded to Eagle Industrial Painting of Magnolia, Ohio, for a total of $3,584,149.55. The contract completion date for the work is set for Oct. 31, 2016.