Activation of traffic signals on Route 3 at the John Andrew Twigg Bridge between Mathews and Middlesex counties was scheduled to begin yesterday, more than a week behind schedule due to contractor delays, state officials said.

Tina Bundy, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said officials expect the overall project to be completed in 2014.

The traffic signals will be operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week, during the two-year bridge rehabilitation project, Bundy said.

One travel lane will be closed on the bridge throughout the project, Bundy said, with northbound and southbound vehicular traffic alternating crossing the bridge in a single travel lane. A concrete barrier will separate traffic from the work zone on the bridge.

VDOT has coordinated with emergency services providers to allow changes to the traffic signal timing for the passage of emergency vehicles, Bundy said.

There is a width-restriction for vehicles on the bridge during the proj...