Virginia Street is officially open to commuters in downtown Reno, both pedestrians and drivers. It's been a long wait, but many say it was worth it. The bridge is ready to embrace the crowds that have avoided it for so long.
The wait is finally over; let the celebration commence!
"We love how the architecture sets off the post office. It's just a great view here," said one Reno Man.
"It's nice to have access to downtown without having to walk around," said a cyclist going through.
Hundreds gathered for the lighting ceremony, commemorating 10 months of hard work by bridge developers, and patience from commuters and business owners.
"People can see that the building hasn't been abandoned, business is still here and that they can get here," said Sandra Van-Scott, manager at Antique Angel Chapel.
Right next to the temporary cone zone, sits antique angel chapel. It's an example of what almost a year of construction can do to a surrounding business. Van-Scott says they lost about 60 percent of her clients.
"They had the big white cement blockades and the cement walls with the 7-foot plywood walls that went from one end to the other. Folks would come in and be upset with us thinking we closed it off and that we had a magic door that would go under the river and get to the other side," said said.
You can say, it's all water under the bridge now, Just in time for wedding season.
"I'm glad we made it through, I'm glad the bridge opened early," said Van-Scott. "I'm really happy things will be back to normal."
With a wider side walk for pedestrians and a bike lane for cyclists, the Virginia Street Bridge also added artwork along a landing that takes you straight to Truckee River.
Businesses surrounding the are especially excited for summer events, like the wine walks and beer crawls, hoping the bridge will bring more foot traffic into their buildings.
