CAMDENTON, Mo. -- Drivers heading to and from Lake of the Ozarks can now skip past a traffic headache, thanks to the new lanes of Missouri 5 in Camden County that opened earlier this week.

The usual holiday weekend voyage to the lake assured a trip through Camdenton, along with its stoplights, congestion and frustration.

"Stop and go; lots of traffic," said motorcyclist Kevin Woodruff of Poplar Bluff.

After two years of construction, the new four-lane bypass is now open.  It comes just in time to accommodate the travel crunch.

"It saved me all that stopping and going in traffic. I like it, it's great," said Woodruff after driving the bypass for the first time on Friday.

The seven-mile stretch begins just south of Camdenton and goes all the way north to the Niangua branch of Lake of the Ozarks.

Darrin Hough of Lebanon wasn't even aware of it until he drove onto it.

"It did save a lot of time if you're wanting to get into Osage Beach," he said.

KY3 News tested how much time was saved by taking the bypass.  Starting from just south of Camdenton and taking the bypass to U.S. 54, it took our crew about 2 minutes and 14 seconds.  Going the old conventional route through the city of Camdenton to the same point timed about to just over 5 minutes.

While most drivers estimated the bypass saved them between 15 and 20 minutes, on Friday afternoon holiday weekend, it only saved us about 3 minutes.

Still, despite the diversion around Camdenton, the largest business on the square has not reported a drop off in tourist traffic.

"As long as people know us and are happy with us, they'll continue coming," said Wynona Hogue, an Ozarkland employee.

Saving just a slither of time still costs money.  The project's overall pricetag was more than $60 million but, on a busy holiday weekend, even a three-minute convenience for a driver can feel priceless.

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