ST. JOSEPH COUNTY -- The current closure on Capital Avenue should be over soon. The road from Jefferson to Lincoln Way in Mishawaka is expected to open Saturday.
This is good news for drivers who have had a hard time getting around not only because of the closure, but because of the extra traffic everywhere else.
Thomas Johnson needs his coffee this morning -- and lately it's becoming a morning routine as he has to wake up early to get to work on time.
"An extra 10 minutes," says Johnson as he leaves McDonalds with a coffee. "Because where I live, I am passing through another construction zone."
The biggest headache that Johnson has to drive through is the Capital Avenue project.
"Yeah, it is terrible and very slow," says Johnson.
Capital Avenue is closed from Jefferson to Lincoln Way -- you can't go north or south there.
And while you can go north and south in the opposite direction, it is still causing some traffic problems.
And those traffic problems are not confined to that intersection. As drivers avoid the area it is causing congestion elsewhere -- like on Bittersweet Road near Penn High School.
"It is incredible," says Lilian Leap. "Yesterday afternoon I have never seen it so busy."
Leap stops to get her coffee every morning at the Martin's Supermarket on Bittersweet.
And good thing since she has been spending longer at work lately -- getting there early and staying late to avoid rush hour traffic.
"I am hoping it will be done hopefully before the weather gets bad or snow comes in I can't imagine it will be chaos," says Leap.
The latest closure will be done by the end of the week as crews work on the railroad underpass -- but the entire project still has about a year to go.
"Hopefully it is worth it -- that is all I can say is -- hopefully it is worth it," says Johnson.
The official detour for the one-mile project is about 17 miles -- this has also frustrated some drivers.
But INDOT says they must direct traffic onto state roads because it would be unsafe to detour a high amount of traffic onto city roads.
