Charlottetown roundabout construction causing headaches for drivers

People who travel into Charlottetown along St. Peters Road can expect their commute to take a little bit longer over the coming weeks.

Construction of the new roundabout at the intersection of St. Peters Road, Northridge Parkway and Norwood Roadhas been causing delays for those trying to get into the city.

At certain points Tuesday morning the line of stopped traffic stretched east into the neighbouring community of Marshfield.

The province is building the roundabout to try to improve traffic flow through the area. Work is expected to be completein September.

Phyllis Foster, who livesin East Royalty, said she usually spends three to five minutes driving to work at a pharmacy next to the construction site, but since the workstarted that hasn't been the case.

"I left the house quite early because I thought it was going to be busy and it took me 28 minutes," Foster said. "The traffic was so backed up and we moved quite slowly, but it is what it is."

After the traffic she saw Tuesday morning, Foster said she plans to explore other routes to work to try to avoid the bulk of the construction traffic.

"Today was an interesting journey and I'm sure it's only going to get worse until they get this all cleaned up."

Detour road to open

The province announced the project last winter.It will cost $1.5 million to construct thetwo-lane roundabout.

Steven Myers, minister of transportation, infrastructure and energy, said the new roundabout is part of the province's strategy to alleviate traffic issues across the Island.

"Part of the reason we're doing this is there's been an outcry from people that we need to get the traffic moving faster in those areas," Myers said.

Myers said construction crews are finishing work on a three-lane temporarydetour road that drivers will be able to use for the duration of the project, which will be open Wednesday morning.

"Sometimes fixing traffic issues creates traffic issues so it's short-term pain for long-term gain," Myers said.

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