Update on 16th St. and 4th Ave. construction
It’s hard to miss the construction at the 4th Ave. and 16th Street intersection. The area is congested several times throughout the day but for long time resident Linda Larson, the $7 million project is a welcome disturbance.
“I’m really thrilled that Yuma has been doing improvements and you have to take a little bit of the bad to get the good,” said Larson.
The project is expected to be completed by next May.
This month, “the current phase of work reduces 16th Street to one lane of through traffic in each direction, with the left turn lanes still open to access 4th Avenue. Northbound and southbound lanes on 4th Avenue are restricted to one lane on their respective approaches to the intersection. Right turn restrictions remain in place for large trucks and semitrailers. New traffic signals have been installed at the intersection and are now active,” according to the City of Yuma Road Report from October 7.
Despite the customers like Linda Larson, business at the Yuma Mesa Shopping center say they’ve seen slumps in sales.
Managers at the Davin and Karin hair salon say it’s been a challenge to attract new customers.
“We have seen foot traffic slow down,” said Gracia Galavis.
Other employees say getting through the intersection and to work on time also requires extra planning. They say wait times at the intersection can be up to 10 minutes.
