Waking up at 4:30 a.m., senior Kaylin Martinson sleepily navigates the intrusive roadblocks to make it on time for swim practice at MISD Natatorium.
Major construction on East Broad Street will interfere with traffic and the entrance to Vernon Newsom Stadium. To complete State Highway 360, Broad Street and Heritage intersections contain detours to allow construction of bridges.
“In the afternoon, it’s crazy because everybody’s out, and it probably takes me ten extra minutes,” Martinson said. “It makes me livid.”
The construction will cause delays upon entering the Vernon Newsom stadium on game days. From South SH360, drivers must turn left on N. Holland Road and enter the visitor side of the stadium from there. From North SH360, drivers must turn right into the stadium’s main entrance and keep left for parking.
Senior Caden Williams also takes the construction route to morning swim practice.
“On Broad, I have to turn on 360, go back around and move over three lanes,” Williams said. “A lot of the time there’re cars blocking you from getting over there.”
Construction should end in late 2017. The East Broad Street and SH360 intersection will be closed until March 11, 2017.
“It’s kinda scary because it’s dark out,” Martinson said. “At the beginning of construction, there were barely any signs, and it was unorganized.”