After thousands of commuters missed flights at local airports and were delayed Friday evening, work crews cleared a fallen overhead traffic sign from the Whitestone Bridge that earlier injured two construction workers and closed the span between Queens and the Bronx.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say two contractors were working on the bridge at about 1 p.m. when a crane on their boom truck struck the sign, causing it to fall onto the roadway.

The two injured men were taken to New York Hospital Queens. James Darren received a broken leg, while Balthazar Andreda, 42, suffered a concussion but recovered Friday. Both men are expected to recover.

"There's a considerable amount of debris from this fallen sign, a lot of steel on this bridge," said Joyce Mulvaney of the MTA.

Many 18-wheeler truck drivers saw the sign fell and were stuck near the oncoming ramps for hours.

"I see the [crane] go right through the sign, I knew it was trouble," said one driver.

"The boom, it's like a crane, it was up in the air," said another. "They're supposed to take that down when they're done using it, and apparently the driver didn't, and took the sign down."

"Two more minutes and probably that thing would go right through my trailer," said a third. "I feel lucky - very, very lucky."

Traffic was diverted to the Throgs Neck and Robert F. Kennedy/Triborough Bridges.

The bridge reopened at 7 p.m., and travelers moving from Queens to the Bronx were glad to have traffic return to some semblance of normality.

"A normal drive that would take like seven minutes has been taking us 35 minutes, 40 minutes. So it's been a little crazy," said a passenger.

"It looks pretty clear, it looks like it's running right now," said another.

Many who were stuck in traffic for hours longer than expected missed flights at LaGuardia and other local airports.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers have been repairing the bridge over the last five years. On Friday, the workers were repainting the bridge's towers.

Next week, MTA workers will repaint the bridge's deck.