AUSTINTOWN — A $700,000 Ohio Department of Transportation intersection improvement project at Mahoning Avenue and state Route 46 is ongoing, but has exceeded its expected completion date in October.

Chalk it up to missing parts. Now completion will wait until spring.

The delay is due to what ODOT public information officer Ray Marsch described as a “nationwide shortage” of strain poles, which are used to hold up traffic signals.

“Everything is dependent on getting those strain poles in,” Marsch said.

The intersection project includes adding an eastbound right-turn lane on Mahoning Avenue and a northbound through lane on state Route 46, as well as curb and signal updates, Marsch said.

He said once the poles come in, workers will have to wait for a dry day to stripe the turn lane.

Now, the project is expected to be completed in spring 2020, according to Marsch.

In September, businesses near the intersection were feeling the bite of on-and-off lane closures and traffic associated with the construction.

Stacy Teski, manager of Austintown Belleria, said at the time that the fluctuating pattern made for “traffic roulette,” causing customers and delivery drivers difficulty coming and going from the Mahoning Avenue restaurant.