The wait is over.

A half-mile stretch of southbound U.S. 61 South reopened this morning after more than three years of work to correct soil sliding on the steep cliff below the roadway.

Work wrapped up ahead of its expected July end date because of a dry spring, Mississippi Department of Transportation Central District Engineer Kevin Magee said.

“It’s a bit ahead,” Magee said.

Beginning Monday, traffic will be reduced to a single lane in each direction of the four-lane, federal highway as crews level and replace asphalt on the northbound side and a three-tenths of a mile section of surface on the southbound side, project engineer Will Gordon said.

In the interim, drivers can access the southbound lanes without a detour, but with caution, as rocks and other small debris linger near the detour.

The overall resurfacing cost was $1.2 million. It was undertaken by Lampkin Construction of Vicksburg in March.

In April 2005, sections of sloughing asphalt forced MDOT to close the southbound lanes near Signal Hill. A $5 million effort to stabilize the hillside ensued, with state highway engineers pledging to keep the road closed until a permanent fix was done. The project has caused traffic to be rerouted onto the northbound lane.

Five rows of concrete supports were placed 100 to 620 feet west of the four-lane highway to head off further sliding, a problem since the road was built on cut-and-fill land about 40 years ago.

Project managers have left open the option of adding more concrete anchors as needed.

Long-term plans exist to four-lane U.S. 61 from Vicksburg to Leland, an effort dubbed Vision 21 and includes work in progress to replace the Yazoo River bridge at Redwood. Road work remains years away, but the bridge is expected to open in 2009.

About 9 miles of U.S. 61 North in Vicksburg and Warren County are being resurfaced as part of a $6 million project.

That effort will be complete in mid-October, weather permitting, MDOT engineers have said.