Delivery and contractor scheduling problems caused planned delays this week at the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge to be rescheduled until the nights of Sept. 20 and 21.

Lauren Hansen, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said Monday that officials were notified last Wednesday that there would be delays both in equipment being received and in the contractor’s availability. She said VDOT had to push back the planned intermittent closures.

Now, both southbound lanes will be closed for intermittent delays from 10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 20 until 5 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21, with traffic being stopped for up to an hour at a time and then waiting motor vehicles will be allowed to clear before the next hour-long closing will be held as part of a project to replace the electronic message signs at the span, which carries Route 17 over the York River between Gloucester Point and Yorktown.

The next night, plans are to close both northbound lanes intermittently between 10 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 21 and 5 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 22, with stoppages of vehicular traffic for up to one hour at a time throughout the night and early morning. Inclement weather might push back the closures once again, Hansen said.

VDOT officials said the signs are very heavy and special equipment is needed to mount them. All motor vehicles must be cleared from under the sign areas before work can begin after each opening on those nights, she said.

It will cost approximately $200,000 to replace the signs, Hansen said, and Dagan Electric Co. of Virginia Beach will perform the work.

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