Road repair and other projects could cause traffic delays

Published 12:04 pm Thursday, May 24, 2012

Austin drivers may hit slower traffic or road blocks over the coming months as the city works on several construction projects.

The city poured concrete yesterday for a pavement rehab job on Fourth Street. While there are currently road barriers up at the intersection of Fourth Street and Fourth Avenue, City Engineer Jon Erichson said they should be removed on Saturday once crews are finished. Work will continue north on Fourth Street as part of a larger project.

Erichson said other projects include work on 19th Street SE from Oakland to Fourth avenues for the next three months. Another project on Ninth Street NW stretches from First to Fourth avenues, and eventually to Eighth Avenue. That project should take about four months, Erichson said, because there’s a lot of work on underground utilities.

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County and state projects

Drivers should consider alternate routes on Fourth Street SW starting Tuesday. Mower County will bring down the Turtle Creek bridge near Calvary Cemetery Tuesday in a project to replace the bridge, Erichson said.

Another project involves a malfunctioning traffic signal at the intersection of Oakland Avenue W and 12th Street that has been blinking red continuously. It awaits a repair from the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The signal’s proximity to an interstate makes it the responsibility of the state, not the city.

“There’s an equipment failure in the controller for that,” Erichson said. The parts necessary could take six weeks to arrive.