Road construction along East North 13th and East North 16th streets and Washington Boulevard began toward the end of the summer and has caused an inconvenience to students.
A few weeks ago, the City of Abilene began dismantling the roads as part of the citywide Capital Improvement Program. Other projects include the Corsicana Avenue sidewalk project and repairing underground water lines.
For this project, new sidewalks will be constructed with curb ramps, driveway aprons – the area between the sidewalk and the curb – will be constructed to accommodate the new sidewalks, curb and valley gutter sections will be replaced.
Jeff Rogge, city traffic engineer and interim city engineer, said completely restructuring the roads was the best option for the city.
“It was getting too expensive to maintain and it was cheaper to replace them,” Rogge said. “The road was really bad; there were parts where there was hardly any road left.”
The project costs around $300,000 and is projected to be completed in January 2016.
“These types of projects can take anywhere from six-nine months,” Rogge said. “With the weather, you can only work during a certain time of the year.”
Because the roads are being worked on throughout the day and night in phases, different parts of the streets will be closed at different times, and residents are forced to park in alleys as not to interfere with construction.
Aside from parking issues, some students are inconvenienced in other ways.
Emily Studer, senior multimedia major from Ballinger, lives 12th Street off of Washington Boulevard and said the construction has made her late to class.
“This has been a bit of an inconvenience,” Studer said. “To get to school, I drive along Washington and 16th, and I have to drive much slower to class, and I’m usually late because of that.”
Residents along roads under construction receive a letter and door hanger instructing them what days and times they will be unable to park on their streets.
Though an inconvenience, Studer said she is eager to see the results.
“I think it is great that they are working on improving the road quality around campus, and I can’t wait for it to be finished.”
For more information and what roads will be closed, visit http://www.abilenetx.com/DesignServices/CONSTRUCTIONANDREPAIRLISTING.htm.
