By Richard Mundy
For Hometown News
Work on widening Tymber Creek Road, from Granada Boulevard to Peruvian Lane, began recently with construction crews clearing and re-grading portions of the highway.
Don Chapman of Masci Construction, the project contractor, said the project should take "a little over a year" to be completed. "I'm going to end up with probably 40 people working on this project," Mr. Chapman said.
Area residents will have to put up with some inconvenience, he said. "Most of it will be done during the day."
There are water pipes to be relocated and certain areas that need standing water redirected, Mr. Chapman said. "Most of that kind of work would be done at night."
The traffic is a problem, he said, as a car sped by moving at a high rate of speed, "... people driving by at 60 miles per hour."
He said his crew starts at 7 a.m. when traffic is heaviest along with 1:30 to 2:30 in the afternoon.
"We're going to try not to inconvenience anybody," he said. "It will be a very nice road when I get done with it."
Leon Flancher, who has lived in the area since 1986, is looking forward to the improvements, he said. "We need a sidewalk. It's a very dangerous road. There are two grade schools north of us and there are dozens of kids walking up and down on the street every day. And there are many bicyclists in the area north of us that ride down here. This is a great area to get out and walk."
The project, besides creating four lanes, also calls for sidewalks and a median.
The road is difficult for drivers to get onto, Mr. Flancher said. "We can hardly wait because we can't get out in the morning."
He will have to go north and turn around to get to Granada (because of a new median) but that is a lot easier than sitting and waiting and not getting out, he said.
The city also plans to widen Tymber Creek from Peruvian Lane to Airport Road, but funds are not yet available for that section.