Columbia darkens bridge lights to prepare for mayflies

So far this year, Mayor Leo Lutz said there have been some flies, but the public works department hasn't been called upon to clean them up yet. With the current warm temperatures, he believes more of the insects could be arriving in the coming days.

"We're watching every day," he said.

The borough typically turns the bridge lights off from mid-June until August, and this year the lights went off June 16. That practice started after summer 2015, when the bridge closed due to its deck being covered with flies, causing motorcycle crashes and making national headlines. Columbia cleans up flies on the bridge when they begin to collect.

The swarms have been blamed on art deco-style lights installed in 2014, mimicking the original lights from when the bridge opened in 1930. Despite the mess and potential danger, biologists say overall the mayflies are an encouraging sign of the river's quality.

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