Construction on Southbound Route 1 begins; Cayuga Street ramp closed for next four years

NORTH PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The Cayuga Street ramp to southbound U.S. 1 closed Thursday and will remain closed for the next four years for construction.

According to PennDOT, the goal of the project is to rehabilitate the half-mile long Wayne Junction viaduct that carries the Roosevelt Expressway over SEPTA tracks and into the city's Nicetown section.

The four-year project will cost approximately $90 million and will leave area drivers in the need of a new route.

People in the area are already feeling the effects of the closure.

"I'm seeing major traffic," said Tenea Trippett of Germantown. "I'm already trying to pave my route out but it is going to be frustrating."

The project is scheduled to be complete in 2022.