Friday, March 29, 2024

Roundabout at N. White Chapel and Highland on Track to Open Before School Starts

The end of summer is upon us and that means back to the school year routine. It also means the morning commute is about to pick up again. For many that commute will remain unchanged, however, N. White Chapel drivers will have a new addition to their route. Despite a heavy rainy season, construction crews are still on track to open the new roundabout at N. White Chapel and Highland before the start of school. While the ultimate configuration will be dual lane, it will temporarily function as a single lane while the median work is completed.

The roundabout is just one part of the two phase N. White Chapel widening project. In the past weeks, crews have been working on the west leg of the roundabout. About half of the concrete work has been completed in anticipation for the asphalt work that is expected to start next week, weather permitting.

“The spring rain did unfortunately cause us to have to rearrange our schedule a bit, but our contractor was able to work around it to keep the project moving forward,” noted City Engineer and Deputy Director of Public Works Kyle Hogue. “We’re looking forward to having the roundabout open and traffic flowing on east and west Highland again.”

While the roundabout is a major component of the first phase of the widening project, crews have also been working on widening N. White Chapel between Highland and SH 114. In the last week, work has been started on the new median near the SH 114 intersection.

Once completed, the final stages of the project will include striping of the new traffic lanes, new sidewalks, landscaping and the installation of public art in the roundabout. Construction on this phase of the project is expected to finish up this fall with utility work on the second phase of project starting as well. Phase 2 is the widening of N. White Chapel from Emerald to Highland.

New lane configuration is on the horizon for the intersection of N. White Chapel and SH 114. Crews also plan to have one lane northbound and one lane southbound open for the intersection prior to school starting as well. Again the interior lanes will remain closed until all median work is complete. As always, drivers are reminded to use extra caution when driving through the construction zone, travel at or below the posted speed limit and keep an eye out for construction workers in the area.

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