A portion of West Union Street will be closed to traffic starting Friday night, city officials announced Thursday.
A portion of West Union Street will be closed to traffic starting Friday night, city officials announced Thursday.
The portion of the road between Depot Street and S. High Street will be closed starting at 7 p.m. Friday until contractors complete roadwork. City Engineer and Director of Public Works Andy Stone did not pinpoint a firm completion time or date.
This summer, Athens contractors started the West Union Street Infrastructure Improvements Project, an endeavor worth more than $1.3 million. The project focuses on improving underground infrastructure including water and sewage lines.
The upcoming construction, which is causing the road to close, will focus on the newly-installed water lines, Stone said.
“There are water line connections that have to be made,” Stone said.
Stone outlined the plans, adding the lines need to stretch from newly added water piping on the north side of the street to “customers” on the south side, including Ohio University’s Central Classroom building and the Station Street Apartments.
Since starting construction during the summer, the city has closed individual lanes on West Union Street multiple times.
“Traffic volumes on Union Street hit around 8,000 vehicles per day on any given weekday,” Stone said. “People just have to take a minute or two longer to get where they’re going.”
But those obstacles come at a cost for local businesses who call the street home.
Jay Shapiro, owner of Union Street Diner, said his business has seen a decline in customers since the construction began.
“Right now, sales are down from last year for the first time since I bought it three years ago,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro also said the diner has no street parking because of construction. He said he would love to have on-street parking for Parent’s Weekend next week, but city officials expect the project to wrap up Oct. 11, the day of the OU Homecoming Parade.
Sarah Kennedy, who has been a bartender at the Smiling Skull Saloon for more than six years, said that although they had not experienced a dip in the number of bar patrons, the Skull has seen disruption from the work.
“There’s a lot of noise and a lot of dust,” Kennedy said.
Stone expects more lane closures between now and the completion date, and said one lane would be closed during paving later this month.
