Construction began at the intersection in March and is expected to be finished in the coming weeks according to the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council.

The $2.07 million contract was awarded to Ditchfield Contracting Pty Ltd and was due for completion in September but was delayed.

Brian Hancock from Ryan’s Family Bakery said the opening can’t come soon enough after a tough nine months.

“We have been losing over $500 a day for the last nine months and have also had to lay off a number of our staff to just keep ourselves going which was upsetting to everyone,” Mr Hancock said.

“Right from the beginning it has been hard for us. Almost immediately – and I am talking within days –  after the fences went up we started losing business and it has just gone down from there.

“It has been really tough. We are a family run business who makes all of our products on site and to see the dramatic fall in customers has been hard.”

Despite the hardships Mr Hancock said the roundabout is certainly needed and hopes it opens soon.

“There is no question that intersection needed a roundabout. The amount of crashes and almost crashes that have happened there are too many to count,” he said.

“In the end I think the pain will be worth the gain especially if it saves someone's life.”

Before the construction began, Port Macquarie-Hastings Council said more than 18,000 cars pass through that intersection each day and it had become a priority for them to improve traffic flow.

Kate Crisp from Port City Florist said the it was exciting to see the work nearly finished.

“We have seen a slowdown in business but I think that is to be expected when work like this is taking place,” Ms Crisp said.

“We have seen less foot traffic through the doors but generally the downturn has been pretty small.

“I think we are trying to stay optimistic and know that at the end of the day the work is happening for a good reason.”

The roundabout is expected to be opened by the end of November, 2018.

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