Yesterday morning a painted yellow ribbon was all that stood between the usual Route 22 traffic gridlock in Murrysville and a smooth four-lane commute.

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But the blinking orange barrels remained on the newly paved and ready-to roll highway, straining traffic down to one lane in each direction.

For two long years, Jack McCune's been intimately acquainted with these three miles of Route 22. McCune is project manager for Dick Corp., PennDOT's subcontractor in charge of the almost-infamous, $29 million lane-widening effort. He's suffered his share of headaches.

But it's almost over, he said. Nov. 24 is "Opening Up Day." By then most of the barrels and flashing lights will vanish and commuters and travelers, too, will finally be able to drive on these four broad lanes of smooth new highway.

McCune hoped to give motorists a taste of coming freedom the first week of November, when the road-builders finished a key intersection ahead of schedule.

"The McDonald's Intersection" is where Pleasant Valley Road crosses Route 22 and traffic frequently backs up a quarter-mile or more. Workers finished work there the first week of November and planned to open it up early.

But for the solid yellow line painted on the pavement.

The line was useful for months, guiding drivers safely onto a one-lane diversion uphill and westward. Now that the project is done, the line is obsolete and misguiding, a safety hazard.

McCune ordered up The Eradicator, a truck equipped with a water-blasting machine that erases unwanted paint from pavements.

"And last week the truck broke," McCune said. "The part didn't come in till Wednesday. I'm assuming they're fixing it right now."

McCune was hoping the Eradicator will have done its erasing overnight or early this morning, and traffic will safely flow today over the long-awaited roadway.

All the intersections should open by Thanksgiving; finishing touches will be during winter. And by April Murrysville may finally wave goodbye to the road-workers.

That is, unless they're traveling east.

Preliminary work has already started on the next three-mile stretch of Route 22, connecting Murrysville to Delmont.