MANLY, IA - Fall is here, but it won't mean an end to your driving frustration just yet. Road construction season could stick around for a few more weeks, or even months.
There's good news down the road. Some projects, like the work on Highway 122 on the west side of Mason City, are scheduled to finish in about a week.
Others, are going to take more time. The 19th Street overpass project won't be finished until November. And in Manly, drivers can't wait for their dreaded detours to go away.
"It seems to be taking a lot longer than people anticipated," said driver Nathan Vandiber.
Vandiber remembered one last, easy trip north on Highway 65.
"I was lucky," he said. "I made it up to Northwood and back. And when I came back they were just starting to set up all the barriers."
Since then, Vandiber's pretty much avoided going to and from the county seat. The detour adds as much as a half an hour onto his travel time each way.
"It's just kind of a wrench in the gear works of everybody's lives around here," Vandiber added.
The good news is, road workers appear to be making real progress.
Iowa Department of Transportation spokesperson Pete Hjelmstad said, "they do have the northbound done. It is completely paved. They are working on the southbound lane now."
That'll take about a week, if the weather cooperates. Then crews will finish up the highway shoulders, and re-connect the side roads to the main drag.
Hjelmstad said if all goes as planned, "by late October, it should be ready to go."
Even after the road closed signs come down, the work is not done yet. Crews will still be doing work on the side of the road for a few more weeks. Hjelmstad said the final touches shouldn't get in the way of traffic. And he believes the end result will be worth the trouble.
"It's going to be a little bit wider, a little bit safer, and that's always a very, very, very good goal to have," Hjelmstad stressed.
If you ask local drivers like Vandiber, the end can't come soon enough.
"It's a pain. I think everybody's just pretty much tired of it," he noted.
Local business owners said there are some benefits to the construction, and they have nothing to do with safer driving. Crews are staying at hotels, and eating at diners, in Manly and Northwood. One hotel manager said he won't miss the detour, but it's hard to say goodbye to the extra business.
The Iowa DOT is already preparing for next year's projects. Hjelmstad said the big one, is work on Highway 122 in Mason City. Expect to see part of it closed to traffic for much of the summer.
