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FORT MYERS, Fla. Early relief is coming for a major traffic headache. Colonial Boulevard between Metro Parkway and Fowler Street reopened at 6 p.m. Thursday as a project to fix a railroad crossing finished ahead of schedule, Florida Department of Transportation spokesman Zac Burch said. The segment of Colonial, which closed June 9, was originally supposed to be shut down for as long as two weeks. Crews from Ajax Paving and Seminole Gulf Railway collaborated on the work. Barricades will start coming down at 5 p.m., Burch said. The development is a major win for drivers who’ve been forced to detour around the city’s busiest east-west thoroughfare. It’s also good news for businesses along the stretch. FDOT began a campaign in May to warn drivers of the impending closure, with signs along Colonial as well as on Interstate 75. The earliest estimate for the end of the project was June 16, but poor weather could have pushed it to June 23, state transportation officials said last month.