Eager drivers ready to cruise on fresh asphalt will still have to wait a while for the InterCounty Connector to open – but how long isn’t exactly clear.

The highway that will eventually connect Interstate 270 in Montgomery County and Interstate 95 in Prince George's County is still a work in progress.

Originally the first  six-mile segment connecting I-370 in Shady Grove to Georgia Avenue in Olney was slated to open in fall 2010, then late 2010, then... “We realized we had more work to do than days left to do it,” said spokesman Ray Feldmann.

Now the date is “early 2011,” Feldmann said. He acknowledges it “sounds a little weird” given that it is in fact early 2011.

The opening is at least a few more weeks away, he said. Officials are still monitoring what is left to do and how long it will take to finish. Then they need to advertise the roadway and how to use its cashless tolls, he said, which will take a few weeks.

So look to February — at the earliest.