Crews in the final phases of Five Points road work

DOT engineer Jeff Allen said the project should be finished by the end of September or the beginning of October.

The whole project was lengthened by a couple months when this past winter, resurfacing work unexpectedly turned up a crumbling concrete base that was at least 70 years old. Removing that layer and laying down new asphalt pushed costs up by about $900,000, according to the DOT.

"It's kind of like whenever you do remodeling on a house. Once you open it up, the walls, then you get to some of the deterioration and that's what we saw here," DOT engineer Jeff Allen said.

The DOT also had to redo 1.6 miles of the project that had just been resurfaced three months ago after crews found that the sealant combined with the summer heat was creating bumps on the road.

"The bumps are not normal. It is something that was a material issue that we found," Allen said. "We had to deal with 100-degree heat and we did change some of our paving practices."

Allen said the contractor was not at fault for the bumps. The problem cost taxpayers an extra $50,000.

Rain in late August also cost crews about 1½ weeks of work.

Area business owners said they are frustrated on many levels. Many told WRAL News that their profits were down more than 50 percent this summer.

"There were no detour routes out so people couldn't find a way to navigate their way around here," said Casey Covey, of Five Points Service Center.

Residents and business owners said they are ready for the route to finally clear up.

"I don't think anyone is going to miss trying to figure out which way to go. We're not going to miss dodging traffic," nearby resident Deb Newton said.

As road work continues in the area, motorists can expect problems around the following roads: