BEND, OR -- Drivers will see more changes this week for the Bend North Corridor Improvement Project. The first takes place Thursday night.

“Coming from Empire and you want to go up to the shopping center instead of having to go on Highway 20 all the way around to Robal, that's been a detour, there's a new connector road, you can go straight on to 97 business right there without having to go all the way around,” ODOT’s Kacey Davey says work on the massive traffic re-route is almost finished, “It's actually going to be done by the end of this year. And after we make these changes this coming weekend, we're really starting to wrap things up. There'll be some repaving and everything that's happening on the old (Highway) 97 which we now call Business 97 or 3rd Street. We're getting pretty close.”

The 3rd Street to westbound U.S. 20 bridge will be closed this coming weekend starting Friday at 8 p.m. While crews work on this bridge, the southbound section of Business 97 that passes underneath it must be closed for safety. Both sections of road will reopen by Monday morning August 26 at 5 a.m.  U.S. 20 westbound traffic will detour using the new connector road from 3rd Street, continue north on U.S. 97 Business/3rd Street and turn left at Cooley Road to get back to Highway 20.?

Drivers are handling the massive traffic re-route better than they were a month ago. “As people get used to navigating these new roads and how to get around. There's been less and less U turns. We still get reports of some of them happening. People haven't been through the area yet but, you know, if you do miss your turn or whatever, go to the next exit, it's so much safer than trying to turn around right in the middle of a highway,” Davey says.

Signs will be placed along all of the routes showing motorists where they need to detour to make it to their destination.