My morning commute out of Middletown in Orange County, New York has become a nightmare. Construction crews are ripping up roads and surrounding land and making a mess of the on and off ramps to Route 17. The work is also affecting Route 86 (where I got stuck for 20 minutes just trying to get from Route 211 to 84-East. And soon it looks like 84 onto Route 17 will be a problem, too. So, what's Orange County's end game in all this?

Well, in particular as it relates to Exit 122 on Route 17 in the Town of Wallkill, a $67.8M effort will reportedly reconfigure on and off ramps 'enhance safety and traffic flow', according to Mid Hudson News.

(Thinkstock; Canva)

Heather Pillsworth, a spokesperson for the NY State Department of Transportation says the road project is part of a larger plan to upgrade and improve Route 17 to 'Interstate 86 standards from Harriman west to Binghamton'.

To me it looks like off Route 84 the plan is to create a new exit that connects right to Route 211 and the Galleria at Crystal Run without having to get onto Route 17 at all. But that's just me eyeballing some of the trenches that have been dug and barricades that have been put in place.

I'm all for making driving any major roadway more convenient, but for the foreseeable future navigating 17, 86, and 84 could be challenging. With ongoing lane closures and delays, you'll need to leave yourself more time to get where you're going, find some nifty detours, and keep a bottle of ibuprofen in your glove box.