Striping work to continue
Published 9:35 pm Thursday, May 4, 2017
Whitworth and Railroad avenues will be closed again Sunday and Monday nights so crews can add the permanent striping to the pavement.
The two avenues were converted into one-way streets in April. At that time, temporary striping was installed on the roads. Workers will go over the temporary striping to make the lines permanent, said Ryan Holmes with Dungan Engineering, the contractor for the nearly $500,000 project.
The work will begin at 6 p.m. Sunday and end around 7 a.m. Monday. Crews will continue with the striping at 6 p.m. Monday and end around 7 a.m. Tuesday. During those hours, Whitworth and Railroad avenues will be closed from Monticello to Chickasaw streets and motorists are asked to avoid parking in the area where crews will be working, Holmes said.
Weather can affect the work and Holmes said it’s possible a third day could be added.
Crews also began striping Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Williams Street and Sawmill Lane, but had to stop because of the rain. They hope to complete that job while they’re finishing the downtown striping work, he said.
The downtown project, which the Brookhaven Board of Aldermen approved in August, changed the flow of traffic on Whitworth and Railroad avenues. Whitworth’s traffic now goes south, while Railroad’s traffic flows north. Traffic lights are set to flash red at intersections with Cherokee Street. Temporary three-way stop signs have been set up at those intersections.
All parallel parking changed to angled parking, which created more space and an additional 36 parking spaces for the entire area.
Holmes said he’s received many positive comments about the new parking plan and traffic flow.
Electronic message boards were installed in the area to alert motorists of the “Do Not Enter” status at the exits of the one-way streets. Holmes said those will be replaced with permanent signs in two to three weeks.
The project began in late February with the city’s public works department replacing several manholes on the roads that will be repaved.