New interchange nearing completion
| Friday, Sep 04 2009 03:41 PM
Last Updated Friday, Sep 04 2009 03:43 PM
The most-used segments of the long-anticipated Highway 178-Fairfax Road interchange are now open to traffic, and one business owner says more customers are rolling in.
The westbound on-ramp, eastbound off-ramp and the bridge are open, said Janet Wheeler, spokeswoman for the Thomas Roads Improvement Program.
The westbound off-ramp is closed due to a minor design error discovered during the building process. But the areas with the most expected traffic are open.
Wheeler didn't know when the closed area will open.
Overall construction began in September 2007 and cost about $29 million.
Since the work began, there have been several detours around the area where the highway intersects with Fairfax. Some nearby businesses lost customers.
"It was really slow," said Pinder Sithu, owner of Magoo's Pizza on Auburn Street.
Now that construction is nearly finished, Sithu said, "It has been picking up slowly. We're really excited about the new bridge."
At Tuesday Morning on Auburn, manager Karen Whitman did not notice a decrease in business.
"People still managed to find us." she said.
Whitman thought perhaps some people were not aware that the interchange had been partially open for a few weeks.
Even with the current economy, Whitman said that the store was doing just as well, if not better, than last year.
