A project 19 years in the making finally broke ground today.

U.S. 33 in Goshen currently runs through downtown and some of the city’s historical neighborhood, but now the rerouting begins.

The construction will last three years, and drivers can expect to feel the brunt of construction in 2017.

On Thursday morning, officials broke ground during a ceremony for the construction project on U.S. 33.

Talk of realigning U.S. 33 from Pike Street to the Goshen High School dates back to 1992.

“A lot of things have happened and if I went through all of the things that have happened since 1997 we would be here all day,” says Allan Kauffman, Former Goshen Mayor

Kaufman says during his 19 years in office there were lawsuits, budget issues, and lack of funding that put off the project.

“It is an exciting day in Goshen because we have a considerable amount of traffic backups here,” says Mayor of Goshen Jeremy Stutsman.

Mayor Stutsman hopes rerouting U.S 33 to bypass traffic lights and railroad crossings downtown will reduce the bumper-to-bumper backups.

“Current motorists aren’t going to see a lot of changes in their path along U.S. 33 this year. But starting next year is when you will see a bulk of the project,” says Nichole Thomas, INDOT Media Relations.

Thomas explains pre-construction work is happening right now. INDOT purchased a total of 68 properties. They are a combination of both commercial and residential and some have already been relocated.

“This will alleviate the traffic that goes through some of our historic neighborhoods but along with doing that we are putting through another neighborhood,” says Mayor Stutsman.

Mayor Stutsman says although the new route will direct traffic away from downtown he believes it’s a step in the right direction.

“The way downtown is going and how successful it is people are still going to come and seek it out,” says Mayor Stutsman.  

Mayor Stutsman added that the city has plans to makes sure those passing through town on U.S. 33 know that the downtown is there. 

Mayor Stutsman says although the new route will direct traffic away from downtown he believes it’s a step in the right direction.

“The way downtown is going and how successful it is people are still going to come and seek it out,” says Mayor Stutsman.  

Mayor Stutsman added that the city has plans to makes sure those passing through town on U.S. 33 know that the downtown is there.