| Updated: 10/01/2012 9:20 am |
Published: 9/28/2012 10:21 am
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Get ready for some major road construction starting Monday morning.
Starting at 9:00, all north and southbound lanes of Lewis Avenue near the I-44 junction will be closed. Drivers and nearby business owners are bracing for big problems.
Reverend JD Campbell makes working out a priority. He’s a member of Dr. Frank’s Gym at 51st and Lewis and works out five days a week.
"Since I just turned 76, I want to keep my body in shape so I can live just a little bit longer,” says Campbell.
With the fourth and final phase of the I-44 widening project between Riverside and Yale starting Monday, it has him thinking of a different way to get to his daily workout.
"I got an alternate plan because I have to come down Harvard and come up 51st to Lewis and turn into the shopping center,” he says.
Right next door at the Midtown Tag Agency, owner Kerrie Fenimore is wondering what the construction will do to her business.
"I’m concerned about a lot of customers switching to another tag office and not coming back,” she says.
Right now, she’s hoping for the best but planning for the worst.
"It could force us to lay somebody off and have to cut somebody’s hours or something like that and just keep a few of us here to keep it going,” she says.
Detours will direct traffic to the I-44/Peoria and I-44/Harvard interchanges.
The nearly 40 million dollar project is expected to last 20 months, but there are incentives to finish early.
Once the project is complete, the new interstate will shift to the south of the existing highway and widen I-44 to six lanes between Peoria and Harvard Ave.
Drivers can expect lane and ramp closures throughout the project, and are urged to plan ahead by checking the Traffic Advisories section of www.okladot.state.ok.us.
