Drivers have been dealing with orange barrels along Gage Boulevard since July, but construction between 10th and 12th streets is wrapping up, for now.
Crews are just taking a break for the winter. The cones could come down as soon as Saturday.
Drivers aren't the only ones who are relieved. Business owners along Gage say they're hoping an open road equals more customers.
“Since they got the lanes blocked off, putting down asphalt, it's really shut down business,” Curtis Epps, a clerk at Valero near Gage Blvd. and 11th St., said.
Traffic has been cut down to one lane in each direction on Gage Blvd. Crews laying asphalt Friday had to block business entrances.
At Paisano's restaurant in the shopping plaza at 10th Street and Gage, the owner says construction is keeping customers away.
The lunch-time crowd is down about 10 percent.
“I think people have a short period of time for lunch. They're in a hurry. They don't want to fight traffic,” Paisano’s owner Steve Butland said. “As a result they sometimes go elsewhere, unfortunately.”
Butland says he thinks it will be worth it in the end.
“I think the traffic flow is going to be a lot better. It's going to improve it for customers and people coming into the shopping plaza,” Butland said. “It will be much nicer when it's all done.”
During the winter months, two lanes will be open in each direction. Those lanes could be open as soon as Saturday, but definitely by the end of the day Monday.
Crews will start working again in early spring. The city hopes to have the project finished by late spring. In the end, there will be five lanes along that stretch of Gage.
Reporter: Jennifer Trammell
Photographer: Courtland Davis
