Modricker said the road, which empties onto Aaron Drive, is intended to help decrease traffic on Atherton Street and West College Avenue. He said the road would also help handle some of the traffic from Corl Street, which will close in the near future.

Modricker said opening-day traffic should be less than usual, but will eventually increase.

"I would expect 5,000 to 15,000 vehicles on opening day, and as traffic patterns change, we are projecting up to 50,000 vehicles a day," Modricker said.

Danielle Shoup (freshman-business administration) said driving around town is not easy.

"The road would probably help by taking a lot of the through-traffic away," Shoup said.

Jillian Lachowiec (sophomore-political science) said navigating congested roadways is the hardest part of driving around the State College area.

"There's a lot of traffic, and the road will make it easier," Lachowiec said.

Modricker said the township presented plans to the State Transportation Commission in 1993. Planning has been the most intense since then, but overall planning has been going on for about 20 years.

"Most of the things that had to be done before construction were accomplished by Ferguson Township, including environmental assessments, traffic studies, design and funding identification," said Rob Cooper, engineering services manager at Penn State.

Cooper said bike paths and landscaping have also been added to the area.

Modricker said the road was originally scheduled to open in September, but some unexpected problems during the summer caused the delay.

"The delay was mostly associated with three items: some utility conflict and relocations, the addition of some storm water management facilities and the weather," Modricker said.