 Motorists traveling in downtown Brainerd this past year probably noticed a major construction project on South 6th Street and Business Highway 371. Today people gathered to celebrate the opening of the new and improved roadway. Reporter Rachel Johnson has more. People gathered in downtown Brainerd this morning to celebrate the completion of a major construction project. 371 is open for business again. South 6th Street, Business Highway 371 through downtown, underwent a major reconstruction project that started around a year ago and officially opened to traffic this week. It's one of the biggest projects Brainerd's ever seen you know to reconstruct a highway such as this through downtown and I think everyone is just happy to see vehicles traveling down and again it's been shut down for a long time. As you can see there's a lot of traffic on it already and it's great to see that positive thing. The $5.7 million project aimed to improve the traffic and safety for motorists as they travel into downtown Brainerd. I really looked at the main artery into downtown Brainerd, Business 371 or South 6th Street and really the main commercial thoroughfare into Brainerd, improving all the traffic and really ushering in a new era for downtown. The project edited a smoother road service, improved underground utilities and updated signal systems and road signs. Along with the roadway the construction project replaced the sidewalks allowing there to be a safe entryway to all the downtown businesses along the road. This was a total reconstruction project. We initiated the project back in 2012 and we've worked through design and environmental permitting and things and this summer we saw the construction new water, new sewer, new storm sewer, new sidewalks, surfacing, signals, lighting, the whole works. Though the project was long the reconstruction was significantly lengthened the life of the roadway. When you're driving up from the south you do have two different routes that you can take. You can take 371 through Baxter or you can take Business 371 through historic Brainerd and now those routes are improved there's more lanes it's just a better overall experience not only for our residents but for the tourism community as well. With the reconstruction of South 6th Street downtown Brainerd will continue being a busy destination for years to come. Reporting from Brainerd, Rachel Johnson, Lakeland News. MnDOT Ask Motorist driving down the completed roadway to use caution and watch for crews as the road work wraps up during the upcoming weeks. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.