NATCHEZ — Drivers on Seargent S. Prentiss Drive may need a reminder from high school driver’s education — keep your eyes on the road.

That old piece of advice will come in handy when cars approach the intersection at John R. Junkin Drive, since the traffic lanes have shifted slightly to make way for the next phase of work on the continuous flow intersection.

Workers with the Mississippi Department of Transportation worked Monday to realign traffic lights with the proper lane of traffic to eliminate lane confusion.

MDOT Project Engineer Jim Eggleston said Monday’s work caused some delays in traffic but that the transition period is a sign of progress being made on the intersection.

Next, workers will shift their focus from the outside lanes to the median area.

“We’re restructuring traffic and changing the lanes over so we can get to work on the median,” Eggleston said. “We will probably work on the median for a couple of months.”

Eggleston said drivers will experience some delays as work progresses, but that they shouldn’t be significant.

“(Delays) won’t be anything like they were (Monday),” he said.

After median work is complete, Eggleston said the majority of the road construction will move from Seargent S. Prentiss Drive to John R. Junkin Drive.

When the continuous flow intersection is complete, a series of timed traffic lights will free up the flow of traffic at the intersection.

The project will create a new road that will become an additional lane for the intersection.

Work on the new intersection has been on going for nearly a year, but Eggleston said the end is in sight.

He said work is currently on schedule to be completed by the end of 2009. But, as with all road projects, Eggleston said workers are at the mercy of Mother Nature.

“We’re hopeful,” he said. “It depends on how the summer weather acts, but we are still shooting for the end of the year,” he said.