TheDepartment of Transportationhopes to turn the corner on a very unpopular commuter bottleneck: Harrison Avenue from Maynard Road to Interstate 40.
"This is a two-and-a-half year project and that's a long time for a project, but just bear with us. I think when it's finished you'll have a nicer and safer facility than what's out there now," says Wayne Currie, DOT resident engineer.
Much of the two-mile stretch of Harrison Avenue is just two lanes. The plan is to make the road five lanes with curbs, gutters, sidewalks and new traffic signals.
People in the neighborhoods along Harrison Avenue will feel the impact of detours, lane closings and nighttime construction. It is those same people who feel the pain of an overburdened road, and hope to see some improvement in the near future.
"Harrison Avenue is a problem during heavy commute times, morning rush hour, afternoon drive time," says commuter Martha Fraser. "I've actually looked for alternative ways to get to work and kind of have gone to taking a back road to get to Interstate 40."
Engineers will try to keep the impact on commuters low. Lane closings and detours will take place between 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Time is money for those working on the project. The contractor will be fined $2,000 a day if the job is not finished by May 2003.
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