NATCHEZ — A couple of fender benders on the Mississippi River Bridge Saturday morning caused traffic to be backed up on both sides of the river for approximately three hours.

The first accident occurred at 11:04 a.m., Vidalia Police Capt. Frankie Carroll said, when a car rear-ended another, causing minor damage and no injuries.

After police arrived on the scene and were working the accident, another similar accident occurred at 11:33 a.m., and one of the people involved complained of neck pain.

Emergency services responded and transported her to a medical facility to be treated for minor injuries.

Although wrecks on the bridges always slow traffic, the westbound span is closed for repair work.

During the bridge work the eastbound span is handling a single line of traffic going in each direction, causing a bottleneck with any delay occurs.

Meanwhile motorists on the Natchez side of the bridge reported being stuck in traffic along John R. Junkin Drive as long as 20 or 30 minutes, said Natchez Police Sgt. Jerry Ford.

Traffic remained in gridlock until approximately 3 p.m.

Ford said traffic seemed to be heavy Saturday afternoon around town which contributed to the traffic back in Natchez.

“I don’t know what’s causing it,” Ford said of the extra traffic.

Ford said he was not aware of any special events on either side of the river Saturday that would have brought in extra traffic.