The Winston Salem Northern Beltway project is NCDOT Division 9's longest project to date. With construction beginning 10 years ago, NCDOT officials say the beltway still has a long way to go.Top StoriesJaxton Brown found in canceled North Carolina Amber Alert, parents Destinee Cothran and Justin Brown on the runNorth Carolina couple arrested, charged after abducting grandchildren, found in High Point, deputies sayVideo: A driving range exchange goes viral after a man gives unsolicited swing tips to golf pro-Georgia BallGet the latest news stories of interest by clicking hereNCDOT says the 17 mile long beltway will ease traffic flow of more than 100,000 cars. "It's really a gamechanger for this area," Pat Ivey, Division 7 Engineer, said. But some residents believe it won't change anything."I don't think it's gonna ease traffic i think it's gonna cause a lot of congestion," Winston Salem resident, Jose Moreno, said.Watch: NOWCAST streaming newscastsSeveral projects along the Winston Salem Northern Beltway are set to be complete this year such as the eastern loop of the beltway."You can see a lot of work going on there between Salem Parkway and Interstate 74," Ivey added. "That project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026. Once that project is completed of course we will be able to sign the Eastern Beltway as Interstate 74."Keep up with the latest news and weather by downloading the WXII app hereLooping around the northern part of Winston Salem from us-158 to I-74 east, this more than billion dollar project has faced and is still facing many speedbumps along the way.One of those speedbumps includes a lack of funding for three projects on the western loop of the beltway and a lawsuit filed in 1999, which delayed the project for a decade..."We had to go back and redo all the environmental studies and that took a long time," Mayor Allen Joines said. Every time the new ones would come back, they'd reinstitute the lawsuit and we'd get held up and have to do more. Then our challenge was to get the money back in place which we worked on for a long time."Helping decongest traffic around the city is the beltway's main goal. But residents and officials has differing opinions on if it will solve the traffic problem.NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Watch NOWCAST TV | Local News | National | News We Love |"All the traffic is gonna come in altogether at one time and it's gonna cause a big headache for the roads I think," Moreno said."We believe that the eastern beltway when completed could take as much as 20 percent of that traffic off us US-52 and that will probably be one of the biggest benefits to the eastern beltway," Ivey added.Mayor Joines says the reduction of traffic will provide safer air for Winston Salem residents."The longer we're sitting in a traffic jam, the cars idling, it emits more carbon into our atmosphere and we have a goal of reducing our carbon by 50 percent by the year 2023 and totally reducing it by 2050," Joines said.