In the middle of the I-4 Ultimate Project comes a major detour that closes a road many use to avoid I-4.

Advertisement Southbound U.S. 17-92 closed for road work Work expected to be finished Monday morning Share Shares Copy Link Copy

In the middle of the I-4 Ultimate Project comes a major detour that closes a road many use to avoid I-4.Work began Thursday and is scheduled to last through the weekend. The construction is being done on U.S. 17-92 between Maitland and Winter Park.See traffic conditionsCrews shut down the southbound lanes Thursday evening between Monroe Avenue and Park Avenue.After about a month of delays because of bad weather, the Florida Department of Transportation is choosing to do work over the weekend.The road work signs went up at 7 p.m. Thursday. The southbound lanes of U.S. 17-92 in Maitland are closed starting at Park Avenue and will reopen Monday."It's going to be terrible. It's going to be a mess," a driver told WESH 2 News.Drivers are being forced to bottleneck at the Park Avenue left turn signal. Many people are not aware of the closure, including a tractor-trailer that couldn't fit through the barricades."Sometimes, it sets up this way," said Steve Olsen with FDOT.FDOT said it has to remove a concrete slab underneath a railroad bridge and bad soil to lower the road by nearly a foot. The goal is to prevent tractor-trailers from hitting the bridge, a main artery for cargo trains and the SunRail."We're going to work as quickly as we can and as hard as we can all the way through the weekend," Olsen said.To avoid the line of traffic at Park Avenue and get around the closed stretch of U.S. 17-92, FDOT said drivers should take the Maitland Boulevard exit to I-4 and then to Lee Road.Drivers can also take Lake Avenue to Wymore Road, which will take them to Lee Road, as well. Both will put drivers back on U.S. 17-92.Some who own businesses on the other side of the bridge said they are trying not to feel separated from potential customers."It's so inconvenient for us to get around because they have to close this and close that, but we're trying," said Eddie Gonzalez, with U-Haul.The work is scheduled to be finished by rush hour on Monday morning. The road is expected to reopen then.If they can't get the job done by Monday, FDOT said the same closures could happen once again next weekend.