EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/ CBS4) — Drivers eager to see the end of the long-running Pellicano project may have noticed a change this week: some orange construction barrels have been moved off the Loop near Pellicano. But county officials say the work is not finished yet.

County Commissioner Iliana Holguin said the project is nearing the end of its first phase. “So thankfully, we are very, very close to the end of phase one of Pelicano,” Holguin said.

Holguin said the original completion date for phase one was Sept. 30, but weather has affected the schedule. “Originally, the completion date was September 30th. But the contract always takes into account that there’s gonna be certain days, for example, when we get heavy rains, that work is not gonna be able to be done,” she said.

The project has faced multiple delays. The original contractor stopped work and filed for bankruptcy in 2023. A new contractor came on last year, and crews are now finishing striping and other closeout work.

Officials do not have an exact completion date, but they hope phase one will be fully finished within the next couple of weeks. Drivers are still being urged to watch for construction barrels while crews wrap up.

As for phase two, the county said it is still negotiating with the project’s surety company. The county said the design cannot be completed until those talks are resolved, and the cost of the remaining work is not yet known.

The county has allocated an additional $6 million to finish phase one, on top of the project’s original funding of more than $20 million. Officials said they hope to recover that added money from the surety.

Holguin said the county is pushing to move forward. “We’re very hopeful that we’ll be able to come up with a resolution quickly because we know that phase two is equally as important as phase one was,” she said.

The county said it will announce when phase one is fully complete. Until then, drivers are being asked to slow down and follow signs through the work area.

If you have a topic you would like to see featured in the “What’s Driving You Crazy?” segment, send an email to mamhernandez@sbgtv.com.

RELATED: What’s Driving You Crazy: Why is the Pellicano widening project taking so long?

RECOMMENDED: What’s Driving You Crazy: Safety concerns at Artcraft and Doniphan intersection

Sign up to receive the top interesting stories from in and around our community once daily in your inbox.