Good news for Vancouver commuters: construction along East 1st Avenue is almost over.

Trevor Whales with Fortis B.C. says the thoroughfare will fully reopen between Rupert and Nanaimo street on Sunday morning, having previously been restricted to a single lane in each direction.

The Clark to Nanaimo section, which has been fully closed since early July, is scheduled to fully open on Friday, Aug. 31.

"For all those people that have had to find different routes during the closures, they can now go back to driving along East 1st Avenue as they did normally," Whales said.

The road has been subject to lane closures since late May as the gas utility installed a new gas line underground.

The closures have resulted in major traffic disruptions and congestion along other routes.

Cindy Lin, the owner of Cindy's Palace restaurant at East 1st and Nanaimo Street, is relieved construction is nearing an end.

"I feel very happy. ... before, they closed Nanaimo Street too, a few blocks. Customers [were] very unhappy. They said [it was] very hard to turn into our restaurant," she said.

She says business has been down 30 to 40 per cent during the gas line upgrades.

Her hope is business will pick up on Aug. 31 when East 1st Avenue fully reopens.

With files from Meera Bains

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