August 20, 2006
Albany - - If you've traveled down Jefferson and 2nd Avenue this weekend, you may have noticed construction and delays. An extended construction project in the area continues, and now that it's reached a busy intersection - - it's forcing drivers to practice patience.
This weekend, the city's storm water and sewage construction project arrived at Jefferson and 2nd Avenue, and drivers are dealing with the drama.
[CG=5000-Augustus Jones/Resident;]
It's stop and go on Jefferson as this bull dozer gets to work.
"And it holds up traffic but that's the way it's gotta be done," says construction worker Henry Sizemore.
The constrcution also re-routes traffic. Business signs inform customers they're still open despite all of this.
Sizemore is spreading gravel, covering up a hole construction crews work on during the night. Even when the light turns green, sometimes drivers still have to wait a little longer so he can get out of the way.
Some folks who live in the area walk to run their errands, instead of driving.
"They should just block the whole street off and the drivers sitting at the street as they're trying to repair it. They know it's going to damage their vehicles so why they still going across there. They see folks working on the street," says Augustus Jones.
At night, they don't block the street completely, but they reduce Jefferson to one lane, instead of 2. That's when they do the more difficult part of the job.
"We just have to do it at night. Less traffic. 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, you don't have traffic hardly," Sizemore says.
But during the day, drivers have to be patient and deal with driving through a little gravel to get to their destination.
During the week, you won't have to worry about this, because the construction workers will work on 2nd avenue, rather than interfering with traffic on Jefferson. But it won't last for long. Next weekend, they will return to continue work at this busy intersection.
The construction, funded by county sales tax, and Phoebe Hospital, started last year and is expected to wrap up by December. This summer, work on Jackson street was actually delayed for several months. Next, the construction project will cross Monroe.
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