The morning commute was a long one for drivers affected by changes implemented overnight to the McKenzie Interchange. Work Crews diverted southbound drivers from the existing lanes to new, temporary on and off-ramps at Admirals Road.
The change resulted in major back ups both on Highway 1 and all feeder routes as drivers tried to find a work-around. Complicating matters -- the signal lights also had to be changed -- which also backed up northbound lanes.
Janelle Staite the Regional Deputy Director of Highways for the South Coast region says drivers weren't getting the right amount of green time, which is being corrected.
Staite urges patience as the bugs are worked out:
" I think that the key is certainly it's something new and different and it takes drivers a few days to adjust to the changes. Also with the changes we've had to alter our signal timings again for the adjustments and right now we have folks on that are on site monitoring how traffic is flowing, and really dialing in the precision of that signal timing to get traffic through as efficiently as possible."
Staite says the traffic lights will be gone and the interchange open for use by the end of next summer, cutting an estimated 20 minutes off the commute. The entire project is slated to wrap up by the end of next year.