When Debbie Bedrosian opened her salon in October 2010 on Post Road in Apponaug, a lot of cars went by her business every day. Thousands of motorists still pass her business daily, but few stop in even if they wanted to.

Reaching Salon X often requires navigating between crews unearthing utilities, or leaving the temporarily paved road and bumping over uneven gravel and dirt to arrive at her parking lot.

Bedrosian estimates she’s lost half her business. Getting in and out of her business is a big part of the problem. She has also lost power and her cable connection, making it impossible to process credit cards.

Most of all, she says customers have grown fearful of becoming ensnarled in the construction-related delays and purposely avoid Apponaug, although Cardi Construction crews are working to minimize disruption.

There’s some good news for Bedrosian, her customers and Apponaug travelers.

The relocation of utilities on that section of the Apponaug Circulator from William’s Corner to the intersection with the Post Road extension has been completed. The base layer to the new road, meaning three and even four lanes of travel instead of one or two, is being installed this week. It also means an end to playing dodge-’em with construction barrels, cones and earth-moving equipment to get in and out of the Salon X parking lot.

John Lonardo, resident engineer with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT), said the next step for that section of the project will be curbing and the construction of sidewalks.

Surprisingly, seeing that it affects so many, Principal City Planner Richard Crenca, who serves as the city liaison to the state project, said he rarely receives complaints about the disruption. He credits this to Cardi’s efforts, weekly updates on the RIDOT website and the fact that people have gotten used to it.

While those on the Salon X end of the circulator won’t be seeing as much of construction crews, that stretch of Post Road from Apponaug Four Corners to the West Shore Road underpass are already seeing changes. Cardi has started installing above-ground water service to both sides of the road in preparation to unearthing and replacing the Kent County Water Authority line buried beneath the roadway. A six-inch line will run down the City Hall side of the sidewalk, while a two-inch line will replace service to customers on the south side. Cuts have been made in the sidewalk where the lines will have to dip below the surface to allow for intersecting roads.

Reading from the state website, Crenca said the temporary water lines should be in service for six to eight weeks while the former waterline is dug up and a new one installed.

Usually when replacing a line, the old pipe would be left in the ground, but Lonardo said there just isn’t the room to do that.

When completed in the spring of 2017, the circulator is designed to expedite traffic through the village while creating a more pedestrian-friendly village center through an extension of Veterans Memorial Drive west to intersect with Toll Gate and Centerville roads and a series of roundabouts aimed at providing a smooth flow of traffic. The plan shows four roundabouts and one semi-roundabout just west of the West Shore Road underpass.

Lonardo said the roundabouts to be completed will be just north of Salon X at the Post Road extension and Veterans Memorial Drive intersection, as well as at the underpass. As roundabouts are completed, motorists will be compelled to drive partially around the circle, rather than taking the direct route, so as to get them accustomed to the rotational system.

“It’s part of the learning curve,” Lonardo said.

Depending on construction progress, those two roundabouts could be completed this fall and operational.

The circulator – a pet project of Lincoln Chafee when he was Warwick mayor, and later during his time in the U.S. Senate when he was able to procure federal funding – will bring to an end what was considered a temporary solution to the Apponaug traffic jam. In the late 1970s, former Mayor Joseph Walsh implemented the counterclockwise village rotary system in response to the persistent traffic congestion. Cost of the circulator is in the range of $40 million, including about $10 million spent on property acquisitions and designs up until the point where Cardi was awarded a $30 million contract for the work.

Lonardo put the project at roughly 25 percent completed.

“It’s moving,” Crenca said of Apponaug traffic. “It’s moving at a slow rate of speed.”

Bedrosian knows that. She would just like to see more customers brave the inconvenience and stop in. While other businesses have closed around her, she aims to stick it out. When it’s all done, she said, “It’s going to be absolutely beautiful.”