Traffic detours put in place to accommodate work on the Hillcrest Drive Reconstruction Project caused a few hiccups last week but traffic flow is getting better as drivers make adjustments, Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said this week.
“We have had some issues due to the detours but thanks to drivers modifying their routines and after making some adjustments to the traffic control, those seem to be quite a bit better now,” he said.
Work on the project, approved by voters in the 2013 Half-cent Capital Improvement Project election, got underway last week. Hillcrest Drive is currently closed between 20th Street and Hillcrest Heights, just south of the Caney River. The intersection of 20th Street and Hillcrest Drive is included in the closure. Hillcrest traffic is detoured to Silver Lake Road and Adams Boulevard until next Tuesday morning while contract crews create a drainage system to move water from the west side of the work site to the east, Siemers said.
“The new road will be aligned to the west of the current roadway and part of the older portion of the road will be retained as pedestrian pathway in the area. There will essentially be a ditch between the two,” he said.
The $2.2 million project involves reconstructing Hillcrest Drive from the Caney River to just north of 20th Street. The new alignment will transition to the existing roadway just north of the Caney River on the south end of the project and just north of 20th Street on the north end of the project. The new roadway will consist of two 12-foot-wide drive lanes with six-foot-wide asphalt shoulders. Turn lanes will be provided at Shawnee and 20th Street.
To begin work on the actual reconstruction, though, some drainage work and tree removal work is necessary, Siemers said.
“Unfortunately, the drainage issue has necessitated temporary closure of the road and also allows the contractor to clear the trees along the new alignment,” he said. “But we should be able to wrap that portion of the project up this week and have Hillcrest Drive opened back up by next Tuesday morning.”
Siemers is asking motorists to slow down when traveling in the area.
“Please, please slow down,” he said. “These detours are moving traffic from a well-traveled secondary road through neighborhoods in the area. There are kids out playing and people walking their dogs and whatnot. We’re asking everyone to drive through these neighborhoods as you would your own.”
Siemers said once reconstruction work begins on the road — hopefully next week — two-way traffic will be returned on Hillcrest throughout most of the project, though some temporary closures may be necessary. However, the intersection at 20th Street will remain closed with traffic on Hillcrest detoured on 16th Street to Shawnee. As work progresses there will be a period of time that traffic is reduced to one lane with temporary traffic signals permitting two-way traffic at the south end of the project. Additional notice will be provided as that phase gets closer.
“Our goal is to keep the road passable during the majority of the project, even though it will be reduced to one lane at times and detours will be in place,” he said.
Construction is expected to take close to a full year to complete.
Photos by Micah Siemers