GALVESTON — Automobiles cruised smoothly Wednesday over the new south lanes of the Galveston Causeway, but lane closures on Interstate 45 before the bridge continued to snarl traffic.

Milling the detour lanes, which delayed morning rush-hour traffic at north end of the causeway, should be finished today, said Bill Babbington, an engineer with the state Department of Transportation.

“We were delayed by one day,” Babbington said. “We were originally supposed to have three north lanes open (Wednesday), but milling up the detour took a little longer.”

Milling, Babbington explained, involved removing all the old asphalt and base material.

Hurricane Ike, which hit Galveston on Sept. 13 causing severe flooding on the upper Texas Coast, delayed the causeway’s completion by about a month.

It also disrupted a ribbon-cutting ceremony in early October. Babbington said area dignitaries would have the ceremony at 9 a.m. Nov. 13 on the Tiki Island entrance ramp to the causeway.

The state isn’t finished, however, with the $135 million bridge.

The state will send workers to remove concrete dividers from the north lanes, which previously supported two-way traffic, and will also place signage and striping along the 2-mile bridge that connects Galveston with the mainland.

Babbington said Wednesday he didn’t know when that project would begin.

The state also plans to reinstall much of the landscaping, including palm trees, damaged by the storm.