FREMONT — One of Fremont's busiest thoroughfares returned to full strength Wednesday, signaling that the city's largest-ever public works endeavor is nearly finished.

Paseo Padre Parkway once again has two traffic lanes in each direction between Shadowbrooke Common Road and Hancock Drive just south of Central Park. Motorists have been dealing with lane closures and detour roads since 2007, when major work started on the Washington Boulevard/Paseo Padre Grade Separation Project.

The project, which still includes work on Osgood and Driscoll roads, is slated for completion by the end of the year — a year ahead of schedule, officials said.

The $111 million project involved rebuilding a stretch of Paseo Padre under the existing railroad and the future BART tracks while elevating Washington over the same tracks. Motorists and pedestrians no longer have to wait for passing trains on the two major thoroughfares, and key rail infrastructure is in place to extend BART to Warm Springs.

The city opened the Washington Boulevard Bridge last April, but crews still are working to open the full accompaniment of traffic lanes on nearby stretches of Driscoll and Osgood roads by the end of the year, said Jim Pierson, Fremont's director of transportation and operations.

"This is like a work of art," Mayor Bob Wasserman said during a ceremony while opening all the lanes on Paseo Padre. "It's just a pleasure to drive through here."

Though

there is no longer a train-crossing at Paseo Padre, trains still will blow their horns until Union Pacific removes the crossing equipment later this year, Pierson said. The city also is landscaping nearby medians with grass that Pierson said requires relatively little water and never has to be mowed.

The city is preparing to move ahead with a new grade separation at Warren Avenue in south Fremont that will facilitate BART's expansion into Santa Clara County. On Tuesday, the council began eminent domain proceedings against three property owners near the future construction site.

When that project is completed, Fremont won't have any at-grade rail crossings south of Stevenson Boulevard.