By Daniel Johnson, Sports Editor
Don’t’ believe the rumors- construction on the strip of EN 10th street between Griffith and Loop 322 is on schedule and should be finished by late April.
Although rumors have been going around that the money ran out for the street or that construction will take longer than the city originally projected, Cody Marshall, design engineer for the city of Abilene, said everything is going according to schedule.
“We’re slightly ahead of schedule on it; we have 61 working days remaining on the contract,” Marshall said.
Construction to widen the pavement and install a sixfoot- wide walking trail on the south side of the street began on August 20, 2007, and the more than $1 million construction project is scheduled to be complete around April 30.
The street is closed to public use, and when the Bontke Brother’s Construction Co. completes the project, the road will be 44-feet wide, 64-feet wide at water crossings. The walking trail will connect with the existing trail on Judge Ely Boulevard and will eventually lead to Nelson Park on ES 11th and Cal Young Park on T&P Lane. The estimated cost of the construction is $1, 124,003.38.
Rick Bontke, vice president of operations for Bontke Brothers Construction Co., said there were some delays at the beginning of construction because utility lines needed to be moved, but since then there have been no bumps in the road.
“We understand it may look like it’s going slow, but it is on schedule,” Bontke said.
Although Marshall said he understands the construction may be inconvenient for residents and students who use EN 10th street to get on the highway, it is worth the wait.
“It was such a narrow street before to keep open and work on it at the same time, it would probably double the time it takes,” Marshall said.
Spencer Hemphill, junior accounting major from Longview, lives near the portion of street being widened, and said he is anxious for the construction to finish.
“When I want to go to the loop I have to go back up Griffith and take the access road all the way to the highway, so it’s really inconvenient,” Hemphill said.
Hemphill moved into a townhouse on the corner of Griffith street and EN 10th street in August when construction began and said that although he’s gotten used to the street being closed, the construction still has it’s little annoyances.
“Since it’s so dry and there’s a lot of dirt, my car can’t stay clean,” Hemphill said. “Even if I wash it, it gets dirty.”
Tara McKee, elementary education major from Atlanta, also lives near the construction and said changing her daily route has been a nuisance.
“You get used to taking one way for so long, and you have to get used to taking another way,” McKee said. But regardless of the little nuisances, McKee said she is glad the city is fixing the street.
“It really needed to be fixed anyways,” McKee said. “I just with they could have done it at a more convenient time like over the summer or something.”
