SEMINOLE COUNTy, Fla. — Some drivers and business owners in Seminole County say they’re frustrated with a road construction project they believe has stretched on for too long.  

FDOT’s widening of a stretch of State Road 46 — just west of I-4 — was supposed to be done by 2021, but won’t be wrapped up until 2022. 

Matt McDowell, owner of McDowell’s Pool Supply store on SR 46, said the road work has meant big delays for him and his employees.

“It’s brutal,” he said. “They come to this hell on earth every day at five o’clock, and then God forbid if somebody wrecks out there — that’s it, you’re just going to live out here.”

Kim Taylor works at Sunshine Pharmacy, where the construction is in plain sight out the window.

“We all thought it would’ve been (finished) by now,” she said.

“The congestion is so bad that way, going either way, at two hours at a time, morning and evening,” Taylor said.

Taylor lives nearby, so she’s not just watching the backups — she’s stuck in them every day.

“There’s no other way around it, you can’t take a different way,” she said. “And it’s so hard on your vehicle, the potholes are everywhere.”

FDOT officials say the project is now scheduled to wrap up in 2022, but westbound lanes will open fully by this fall, which should give drivers some relief.

McDowell said the construction has likely kept some customers away.

“The whole turning lane — you can’t even get to it because the traffic is all the way down there,” he said. 

He knows the issue has cost him money.

“Wasting valuable time and money with guys just sitting in traffic on the clock,” said McDowell. 

FDOT officials say weather and other factors that are expected under contracted work caused the delay in the project.  It’s now scheduled to be complete by early 2022.