Arizona Ave. closed again until Friday
Contractor: ‘Follow the leader’ effect causing backups
Arizona Avenue is closed again at 20th Street, bringing back traffic confusion. The road will be closed until Friday, according to the contractor.
Tony Covarrubias, construction superintendent for Gorman & Company, is asking motorists to heed the “road closed” and “detour” signs. He noted that some motorists are ignoring the signs and continuing through until they run into the barriers and are forced to turn back.
A “follow the leader” effect is causing backups with cars and semi-trailers lining up to make u-turns, Covarrubias said.
Gorman crews are connecting underground water and sewer lines for the 58-unit Mesa Heights apartment complex being built between 20th and 22nd streets. The work was supposed to take place last week, but crews found that the underground utilities did not match their designs and stopped the work.
The contractor redesigned the plans and crews were back to work on Monday, again surprising some motorists and local businesses who said they were not warned about the closure and detours.
The city had not become aware of this decision to resume work until Monday morning, according to a road report update issued on Monday.
“Normally we like to get at least three days’ notice before a major street gets closed down for non-emergency work of this nature,” Dave Nash, the city’s public affairs, said in an email message. “A week is preferable, though not always possible due to the nature of construction projects. The subcontractor doing the underground work here – they’ve been on a number of City projects before and each time showed why they have a sterling, professional reputation.
“Likewise the City engineers who are in touch with this project are always proactive where it comes to both public notification and business notification
in the immediate areas of work zones.”
In trying to explain why this road closure seemed to take everyone by surprise both weeks, Nash said, “We have been tracing the communications mishaps both last week and this week and they are two different sets of circumstances. Bad timing, bad luck or both.
“In this case, I think there was perhaps an expectation of three business days versus three calendar days, in terms of when the advance notice was received, and to whom.”
While pointing out that this is not a “city” project, Nash added, “We do recognize that many in our community have come to count on our weekly Road Report, which the Yuma Sun also publishes, and to that end the City of Yuma sincerely apologizes for the unusual level of inconvenience this intersection work has prompted.”
Covarrubias also apologized on behalf of Gorman. “I know it’s inconvenient for everybody, but it’s not going to be all the time.”
This part of the project should be completed by Friday “if nothing comes up. Hopefully everything goes as planned,” he added.
In the meantime, he urged motorists to “pay attention to the signs” and take the detours or avoid the area if at all possible. Detours are available via Factor Avenue or Walnut Avenue between 18th Place and 22nd Street.
The contractor will again close Arizona Avenue for work at the other end of the project, on 22nd Street, either in November or December. Covarrubias said they hope to do the work during a school break, reducing the impact to the five schools in the area.
“We have two options,” Covarrubias said, pointing to the Thanksgiving or Christmas breaks. However, he said that the contractor is leaning more toward the Christmas break because it’s longer.
At that time, 22nd Street will be right-turn-only for northbound Arizona Avenue motorists with a detour to Factor Avenue. Arizona Avenue will be closed to through-traffic southbound motorists at 20th Street, while business access to locations south of 20th Street will be maintained.