by Camas Frank

SLO City Council members and community leaders, past and present, were on hand March 29 to commemorate the completion of the “Los Osos Valley Road Traffic Relief Project,” better known as the LOVR/U.S. 101 Interchange.

Not 100 percent of the work is finished, as workers are still tying up a few loose ends, like landscaping around the project. For now, wildflowers have colonized the dirt berms.

The project is expected to be two months ahead of schedule and somewhere under its $24 million budget or $32 million depending on who is asked.

The ribbon cutting was held about as close as they could get to the new interchange bridge. Current Mayor Jan Marx and former Mayor Dave Romero cut the ribbon together.

Some “Fun Facts” on the project — which included a new highway overpass bridge, rerouted on and off ramps in each direction and stoplight improvements on LOVR among other aspects — include that it took a staggering 22 miles worth of pavement stripping paint and 1,200 tons of structural steel.