It finally connects the street to Lohman Avenue -- a process that has taken nearly 20 years.

The city of Las Cruces said the final barriers came down Thursday, and traffic can easily flow from U.S. 70 to Lohman Avenue instead of going through neighborhoods.

“It’s long overdue. We've lived in the Sonoma Ranch high range area for nine years, and yeah, this is wonderful,” said Jim Maupin, who now lives a block away from where the construction was.

He said for as long as he has been at the new home, East Mesa traffic went through his neighborhood to get to parts of east Las Cruces.

“It's great. It's going to be a real convenience. It's going to ease the flow of traffic on Roadrunner. It's going to ease the flow of traffic on this little cut-through street,” Maupin said.

On that cut-through, La Camilia, KFOX found one driver who said she fully admits to taking advantage of the shortcut. Sammie Covington of the East Mesa said she was thrilled to hear it was already open.

“I would avoid having to go through this neighborhood,” Covington said.

The city expects about 5,000 people to travel in the area per day for the next few weeks.