Thursday, September 25, 1997
Police advise street be avoided
By JERRY DANIEL REED / Abilene Reporter-News
Don't take Judge Ely to the ball game Friday night, advises
veteran traffic cop Jimmie English.
Judge Ely Boulevard, under construction between North First
and North 10th since Aug. 18, remains a mess. Presently, the east
half of the road is under construction, while the west half's
two lanes must handle traffic used to spreading over four lanes.
With that bottleneck in place, and a sellout crowd assured
for the showdown between unbeaten teams Abilene High and Cooper,
it's best to plot an alternate route beforehand, English said.
One alternative would be taking Interstate 20 east to Loop
322, then taking the loop south to Play Street, which runs north
by Shotwell Stadium. Play Street was recently extended to the
loop's access road, making for convenient access via the loop
to the stadium.
Taking Treadaway south to East Highway 80 or to East South
11th is another alternative. Judge Ely Boulevard south of East
Highway 80 is no problem, English pointed out.
English said that accidents have not increased on the stretch
under construction -- in fact, they've decreased because fewer
cars are around to collide. But the inconvenience certainly has
surged, he said.
City traffic officials said the target date for completion
of the Judge Ely resurfacing is Dec. 1, although the contractor
is optimistic about finishing ahead of schedule.
Contract Paving Co. of Tye hopes to finish the main work on
the two east lanes next week, said Senior Engineer Bob Lindley.
That would shift traffic to the two east lanes -- one for each
direction of travel -- while workmen commence resurfacing the
two west lanes.
After an asphalt undercoat is laid over all four lanes, the
asphalt topcoat will be applied to all, finishing the job, Lindley
said.
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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