SALISBURY, Md.- Drivers headed south on Route 13 have experienced new traffic delays over the summer. Starting in June, the Maryland State Highway Administration closed off the southbound ramp of the Salisbury bypass.
The closure forces drivers to detour on Naylor Mill Road or make a U-turn at Zion Road.
"You always have to wait three to four times for that light to cycle. So you're backed up way past that thing. If you hit it at five o'clock you're backed up on that bypass," Ray Davis said.
But SHA explains they've tweaked traffic light times to cut down on delays and back ups.
"We've been thrilled with the detour, we've had no safety issues. Which was probably one of our biggest concerns. We built in some trip dectectors just to make sure we wouldn't have traffic backing up onto the bypass," Assistant District Engineer for Construction for SHA, Brett Deane said.
Traffic lights were installed at the Naylor Mill Road detour, but they'll come down when the ramp reopens late next month. Some people say they're ready for things to get back to normal.
"This new traffic pattern is actually a little confusing because there's no information leading up to this area. Hopefully it'll be short and sweet," Danielle Vanriel said.
Although SHA says the work is running on time, some people disagree.
"It seems like they're building businesses and houses faster than they're building these highways now a days. But i'm pretty sure people will be excited to have this road back open," Dale Henry said.
The ramp closure is just one part of the project SHA is working on. More bridges are planned to be rebuilt in Wicomico County. All construction is slated to be completed by June 2018.
"We know that it's been an inconvience and we definitely apologize for that but it was the safest and quickest way to build this bridge," Deane said.