CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Detours and blocked roads, that's what some neighbors living near McArdle Road and Everhart Road said has caused a traffic headache.
"Why, then, do these people feel they have the right to close down areas where they're not going to do any work." neighbor Bill Chism questioned when talking about the construction along McArdle Road.
He told Neighborhood News Reporter Alexis Scott, about his frustrations since the road construction began in Fall 2024. Chism and other neighbors believe the construction isn't moving along as fast as they hoped. He told Scott that he sees progress one day, then won't see any workers for weeks after that.
"They're forcing the traffic to go into the residential areas and are not built for the heavy traffics that going down these roads," Chism said. "There's no need to have these streets blocked off until they're actually ready to work."
Chism is also concerned about the students crossing the street from Gloria Hicks Elementary School and speeding drivers who cut through the neighborhoods. He also feels the same about work on Everhart Road.
"It's the same way and did no work for two months," Chism added. "When I called the city about it, they said they had a man go by every day to check on progress. There's no purpose in putting out barrels two months ahead of when you're doing the work."
City road construction is not only affecting residents. KRIS 6 News previously reported some local businesses losing customers due to several detours on that road.
Neighbor Ricardo Rodriguez agrees the projects are causing trouble for residents.
"Students come from the school down the street and they go into the street and go around the construction and some of those people don't slow down. Well the traffic, it's already crazy as it is but with this construction, it's worse," Rodriguez said.
City of Corpus Christi Director of Engineering Jeff Edmonds said both projects received underground infrastructure maintenance that is more detailed than just fixing the street. Work on McArdle Road is 75% complete and expected to be done by May 2025, while drivers will have to take detours around Everhart Road until the end of 2025 or early 2026.
"We don't want to leave underground utilities that are fully depreciated or undersized," Edmonds said. "There is typically as much construction value in the underground utilities than there is in the surface improvements."
Both projects are several million-dollar projects from Bond 2024. Edmonds encourages residents to be patient with the road construction and said the upgrades could last for the next few decades.
If you have any questions about road projects or want updates, the city asks you to call 311.
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