- Neighbors have reported traffic back-ups due to road work on Centerville Road near Harpers Ferry drive.
- Leon County leaders say engineers are adjusting signal times to match traffic patterns.
- Watch the video to learn how to get around the work:
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
As work begins to add a turn lane on part of Centerville Road, neighbors are reporting bumper to bumper traffic.
I've been following this project for months.
Now that work has begun near Harpers Ferry Drive, I'm taking a look at how neighbors are navigating impacts from the construction.
"There's constantly accidents at Harpers Ferry," said neighbor Brandi McIntosh.
She said crashes are common at the entrance to her neighborhood.
"When we first moved into the neighborhood several years back, my husband was rear ended," McIntosh said.
That's why McIntosh said she was happy when the county decided to build a turn lane into the Centerville Trace neighborhood.
"I was hoping for either a general stop light or turn lane because of my own family being personally affected by being rear ended from somebody just not paying attention," McIntosh said.
Only one lane is open in this stretch as crews work to add that lane.
McIntosh said she didn't expect the delays that have come with the work.
"I left my job at 5:15 and I didn't get home until 6:15, which is normally about maybe a 15-minute commute," McIntosh said. "It was quite, quite some time and it was mostly just stop."
With chatter online, the back up is something Leon County Commissioner Brian Welch is aware of.
"Obviously, we did not anticipate that it would become the traffic situation that it has so first and foremost, we want to apologize to people about the difficulties they've had the first few days," Welch said.
He said county engineers are working on improving the flow.
"These are rush hour issues for the most part and we have a large amount of folks going north at 5 p.m. in the evening and a large number of people going south at 7, 8 in the morning," Welch said. "We're going to put a priority on those traffic flows."
He said to find another way around the area for the next four months if you can.
"We are also suggesting an alternate route for folks that is really equidistant if you're talking about the Olsen Road area up to Killearn," Welch said.
McIntosh said she thinks an alternate route will help.
"There's probably some people who knew this was coming but didn't expect it to be so bad and I had no other choice because that is my neighborhood," McIntosh said.
If you are picking up and dropping off students at nearby Montford Middle and Roberts Elementary, consider taking Pimlico Drive to avoid any delays on Centerville.
