The Long and Winding BULL-yvard

Construction on the $12 million Boulevard Modernization Project was scheduled for completion Tuesday, January 21^st, but I see that date has slipped by and the boulevard is nowhere near ready to handle a full traffic load. Patience, patience we are told; everything will be just wonderful when it’s done.

Sure, we have dealt with half the road for far longer than originally thought. Wasn’t the project supposed to be finished last summer? And set back a bit, weren’t we told it would be ready by the Christmas parade? And now, with the latest deadline expired we still have the Main Street of the city clogged with earth moving equipment, barriers, and construction debris.

Initial construction on the project started in April 2013 we are quickly approaching April 2015, and yet the road is still being worked on. It is not a particularly long stretch of highway from the McDonald’s at Westover to the new Courthouse. And yet we are 20 months into construction.

Using Main Street is not a problem for me and perhaps many others. I simply bypass that section of town, unless I have a specific reason to go there. When I do, I travel along the back roads to minimize having to deal with the messed up traffic.

And still there are times when I have to drive on the segment only to get stopped several times for the light here or there. And play any one of a number of games as I try to guess which opening will actually allow me to visit a specific place of business.

For me, and for others like me, it merely becomes a choice. Do I want to conduct business on that end of town or does the inconvenience help me make a choice to go elsewhere? Not a problem for me, I go to the establishments that I have been going to for years. But no doubt all the waiting has caused some problems for businesses along the corridor.

The city says that there have been legitimate road blocks during the long and arduous construction process. And to some extent I would agree. Certainly, our current weather and the weather we had during the late fall was not conducive to getting the work done.

But I have a longer memory than that. I recall a good portion of the summer when the back hoes, bull dozers, and bucket loaders seemed to be parked in the construction areas waiting for someone to show up.

There were days that became weeks when nothing moved and the weather was delightful. Still, I guess, we ought to understand how one thing can lead to another. I am sure there are issues somewhere that have helped slow things down.

Those with businesses along that stretch of highway deserve praise for their patience. If not for loyal customers one would have to wonder how they continue to exist. At this point, waiting another month or two probably won’t put them out of business. But at some point, there has to be an end.

And yet every end has a beginning. The end of the Boulevard Project leads directly to the Dupuy Road project. No doubt that will create a certain amount of confusion along the southern side of Wawa and for Flag Stop Car Wash. But I suppose at some level they already know what to expect. Certainly the side street won’t have as detrimental an effect on sales as clogging up Main Street has had. But then again the city has a lot of lessons learned from the Boulevard job that probably relate to Dupuy Road. At least, for me, I still have access from side streets to the east.