Route 70 in Cherry Hill to be done by winter; purple, pink, red and yellow plants will color the middle of the road.

Few things have boosted the blood pressure of drivers over the last four years as much as the reconstruction of nine miles of Route 70 in Cherry Hill.

Traffic that crawled, barricades that needed dodging, mystery driveways that required careful navigation and now that brown scar of dirt down the middle of the state highway. Complaints filled social media.

The end of the $155.1-million state-funded project is near. 

Leaders from the state, Camden County and Cherry Hill are scheduled to gather at Barclay Farms Shopping Center on Friday to announce that it will be complete by this winter.

And "perennial native plants that truly represent the Garden State" will be planted to beautify the median, Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said in a statement.

Purple, pink, red and yellow perennial flowers and bulbs, and shrubs and grasses, will grow in the median. They will be road salt tolerant, according to the New Jersey Department of Transportation.

Black-eyed Susan, Aster, Daylilies, Gaillardia and Allium will color the drive down the busy road. Inkberry, Eastern Red Cedar and switchgrass will help fill the gaps.

They will be planted in wildflower soil and framed by rubber or aggregate surfacing, according to the plans by Environmental Resolutions Inc. of Mount Laurel.

Eight-foot-wide signs will read "Welcome to Cherry Hill" (and "Now Leaving Cherry Hill") and brick columns will stand on each side, according to the plans.

The goal of the county-state project for median landscaping is to "create a new sense of place for motorists and pedestrians," the county said in its announcement.