Newtown Road Bridge is due to re-open this afternoon (Friday) after being shut for 10 months.

Two redundant bridges have been removed and the main Hastings line railway bridge over Newtown Road has been widened.

Work was due to be completed in the autumn but suffered delays.

The re-opening will be a welcome relief for drivers forced to make a long detour.

The raised bridge will allow more modern buses, complete with air-conditioning and GPS, to use the bridge.

The planned high frequency so-called Smartlink bus service, which is due to be introduced in 2012, will also be able to fit under the raised bridge.

Smartlink will connect new housing and leisure areas, commercial and retail outlets and the town’s proposed new park and ride sites.

In the short term the new height restriction will allow a new 'cross town' bus service, the E Line, to link Newtown and South Willesborough with the Designer Outlet Centre, international station, town centre, Eureka Leisure Park and Eureka Business Park.

The new service, which will be a branded bus that will provide later evening journeys and a new Saturday timetable, will start in March 2009.