Reopening all lanes of the Pulaski Skyway to traffic in both directions has been pushed back to next summer, state officials said.



Work is expected to be completed by summer 2017 to finish the last half-mile of bridge deck on the northbound lanes and 3.5 miles on southbound lanes, said Stephen Schapiro, state Department of Transportation spokesman.

That will allow traffic to use the Skyway in both directions for the first time since the northbound lanes were closed for construction in April 2014. Now, it is only open to southbound traffic.



Officials blamed delays in late 2014 and early 2015 on winter storms and the discovery of deteriorated steel beams underneath the roadway. Completion of the bridge deck replacement was to be completed by the end of this year.

That work is part of a larger $1 billion project to rehabilitate the 83-year-old network of bridges between Jersey City and Newark over the Hackensack and Passaic rivers, scheduled to be completed in 2020.



With southbound traffic moved to the completed section of the northbound lanes last weekend, DOT officials said the remaining bridge deck work should go smoothly.

Larry Higgs may be reached at lhiggs@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @commutinglarry. Find NJ.com on Facebook.