Before the end of the New Year, regional commuters could skirt Gorham Village on the bypass now under construction.

Gorham resident Adam Ogden said the bypass would improve quality of life in Gorham Village. He said Christmas guests at his home on South Street and others around the region are asking about progress of the bypass.

“Its great it’s moving forward,” Ogden said.

The $28 million-bypass is designed to ease bumper-to-bumper rush hour woes in Gorham Village that now has up to 40,000 cars daily traveling through the intersection of routes 25 and 114. The 3.4-mile, two-lane bypass will follow a path on the southerly side of the village. It will intersect with Route 114 (South Street), Route 202 (Narragansett Street) and with Route 25 west of Gorham Village. The bypass will pass under a bridge on Flaggy Meadow Road.

Danny Shaw, co-owner of Shaw Brothers Construction, Inc., said Thursday construction is going well and is a “little ahead”of schedule. He said June of 2009 is the estimated target for completion but could possibly open in the fall of 2008.

Construction began in August and has continued even with snow falling. “We’ll work through the winter with a smaller crew,” Shaw said.

Thousands of motorists await completion of the bypass, which got underway after six decades of studies. Bonnie Conley of Baldwin said she would use the bypass in her daily commute. She said an evening commute from Westbrook to Gorham during a recent storm took two hours. “It would be very helpful,” Conley said about the Gorham bypass.

Ogden, who served on a public advisory bypass committee that planned the bypass, said it would eliminate the heavy truck traffic in Gorham Village. But Ogden also favored a northerly bypass of Gorham Village to further reduce congestion. However, the northerly bypass hasn’t yet received federal and state money for construction.

Ogden, who is public works director in the town of Cumberland, said even people in the Portland North area have inquired about the bypass. He said traffic relief would improve safety in Gorham and encourage more shopping in the village. Ogden said more people would likely take advantage of cultural events at the University of Southern Maine.

“Gorham has a reputation of a place you don’t want to travel through,” Ogden said.