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Most islanders try to avoid North Collier Boulevard construction if at all humanly possible, so it may have escaped notice for some drivers that the road is just a few steps from completion.

Senior Project Manager Tim Pinter said all of the paving is down, traffic lights are in place, and construction crews will work on painting stripes next week. That means the road could open to traffic as early as Dec. 19, four days before the scheduled completion date.

“We’re going to try to put traffic on the road on the 19th, just to see how everything works,” Pinter said.

The last transition took place when traffic was switched from the southbound to the northbound lanes of the road, enabling crews to work on the southbound side. That switch, which happened in the early afternoon of Oct. 12, went surprisingly smooth.

At the moment, crews are working on crosswalks, sidewalks, utility lines and landscaping. Some of that work will continue after the road re-opens to traffic, which means drivers can expect some slowdowns due to landscaping trucks.

Additionally, the final overlay will not be applied to the road until the spring, Public Works Director Rony Joel said at the most recent City Council meeting.

The reasoning, he said, was that the road may still settle in spots over the coming months. Putting down the overlay now could leave a wavy finish on the road, as happened along some areas of South Collier Boulevard when it was completed. Additionally, he said, landscaping trucks may tear up the road as they finish work in early January.

“Last year, we found anomalies in the pavement, and we were criticized for doing patch jobs,” Joel told council. “If we put in the second layer right now, there’s a great probability that we will not be happy with the final product.”

Joel said he did not expect any extra cost to be associated with delaying that final step.