BATON ROUGE - Drivers who frequent Essen Lane will have to put with a construction zone for the time being as crews aim to ease traffic by widening the roadway.

The $7 million project will add an extra lane on Essen, making the roadway three lanes in each direction with turning lanes.

Work began last year when the bridge over Ward's Creek was widened, and now drivers are noticing real progress. Nightly lane closures are still frequent, but workers are trying to keep daytime traffic moving.

The project is expected to be finished by Spring 2018, but DOTD stressed that weather has already pushed back the expected completion date.