BRICK — Finally!

After waiting through three years of construction, the first portion of the new Exit 91 on the Garden State Parkway is set to open, county officials announced on Monday.

In a statement, Ocean County Freeholder John Kelly hailed the project as much-needed relief for traffic congestion on Burnt Tavern and Lanes Mill roads.

While the previous interchange had only an exit ramp for southbound Parkway motorists, the new traffic configuration includes multiple entrance and exit ramps.

On Tuesday, new traffic signals will be activated at four intersections in the area:

Stephan Road and Lanes Mill Road

Herborn Avenue Extension and Lanes Mill Road

Herborn Avenue and Burnt Tavern Road

Burnt Tavern Road and Lanes Mill Road

Additional construction on the "northbound" side of the project, including a new exit ramp, will be open later this summer, Ocean County spokeswoman Donna Flynn said.

“This is expected to increase the level of performance on the roadway now and 20 years into the future,” Kelly said. “This is one of our most far-reaching designs to upgrade a Parkway interchange.”

Traffic in the area routinely backs up, with lines of cars often stretching onto the Garden State Parkway during peak commuting times. A NJ Transit park-and-ride lot also causes road congestion in the morning and early evening.

With the new ramps open, "you’re getting off right there, onto Burnt Tavern Road, as opposed to having to go through the whole town,” Brick Mayor John Ducey said.

But the main issue was never the traffic, he said. Most complaints from residents singled out the wear-and-tear damage done to their vehicles thanks to daily trips through an active construction site.

Ducey knows from experience: He lives just off Burnt Tavern Road, near the construction site. And for the last six or seven months, he’s been taking a different route home.

“It’s been a nightmare at times, an inconvenience at others and everything in between,” Ducey said. “All the potholes and bumps and uneven pavements, all the shifting – that’s what’s really beating up these cars.”

Or as Brielle resident Blaise Turi put it: "The road is like a war zone."

Ocean County spokeswoman Donna Flynn said paving work on the western portion of the project should be complete by the end of the week. County Engineer John Ernst was not available for comment.

Construction for the exit 91 project began in October 2014, with a budget of just over $21 million.

And until last summer, it was proceeding ahead of schedule. But the timeline and cost estimates were thrown into flux when construction ceased last summer, caught up in the fight over a gasoline tax hike.

The project was one of hundreds included in Gov. Chris Christie's mandated shutdown of all state transportation work financed by the Transportation Trust Fund.

“It was totally shutdown for three or four months and, over the winter, it just hardly seemed like anyone was ever working on it,” Ducey said. “It was definitely delayed pretty much equally to the months it was shut down for.”

MORE:Exit 91 delayed, costs balloon due to TTF shutdown

The county was billed for nearly $1 million more in additional costs due to the shutdown:

Nearly $632,000 for additional labor, materials and trucking costs due to the extended construction schedule.

More than $190,000 in equipment left idle at the site, unable to be used on other projects

More than $85,000 in labor reimbursement for necessary safety work on the site during the shutdown

It was the fourth-largest project caught up in the shutdown.

"I'm 52," said Jackson native Ivan Hartstein, in a comment on the Asbury Park Press Facebook page. "And it seems that this exit has been under some sort of construction almost all of my life."

Mike Davis: 732-643-4223; mdavis@gannettnj.com