Expressway Authority: 17 days left to finish construction at 408 and 417 interchange

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The days are numbered for construction workers to get the job done at the 408 and 417 interchange -- 17 days to be exact.

Driver Mike Levine told us he's fed up with the stop-and-go traffic and the changing traffic patterns.

“I wish it was over,” Levine said.

Just like most of the other 130,000 drivers.

Every night you don't know where you're going,  you don't know if you're going to the airport, going to  Titusville, going to Orlando,” Levine said.

With two and a half weeks before the deadline, ramp closures have been extended by three hours -- now starting earlier in the evening at 8 p.m. and ending closer to the morning drive at 6 a.m.

“Whatever it takes to meet a deadline. I mean, I know  they are trying,” said driver Stephen Hamilton.

The Expressway Authority said the ramp closures are necessary for the last layer of asphalt -- and the rain and low temperatures haven’t helped.

Drivers who travel from Lake Nona to downtown Orlando and back will be affected the most.

The new Chickasaw Trail ramps are also supposed to be done around the same time.

The project is also behind because the contractor is missing another set of poles to hold the traffic lights because they're made in  an area impacted by Hurricane Sandy.

Which means Levine and the thousands of other drivers will have to be patient just a little bit longer.

“So we just go, and grin and bear it,” Levine said.

The contractor is facing a $10,000 a day fine if major construction isn't  finished by the end of the year.

WFTV