City staff warned residents that a stretch of road in Mobile City will close in May to complete final construction work on a new roundabout, sidewalks and modern lighting, and that staff expect the roundabout to open in December.

“Big purpose of today's, discussion is making awareness, making the citizens aware of the closure that's about to take place, you know, on May,” a Staff member, a city staff member, said. “Before, the the commute through here was was pretty pretty tough, especially in the peak hours in the morning and at lunchtime in the afternoon, the traffic backed up very, very badly. Final construction with the roundabout, the traffic will flow much, much more smoothly. Additionally, we added sidewalks, which the which the road did not have before, which connect with other sidewalks to make the, make the community more walkable. The project's gonna have modern lighting on it.”

The staff member said the new lighting “can be dimmed. They can be brought back up at different times. It's gonna make the business corridor function more safely. We're nearing the finish line. We've got about 6 months to go.”

They added that the project team is setting a December target for opening: “You know, we're anticipating the roundabout being opened up, December. That's that's the line in the sand that we set for ourselves.”

City staff said they expect some drivers to first notice the closure when they encounter signage and that traffic patterns may need small adjustments once the closure begins. “A lot of people will not pay attention until they drive up here and they see the signage and it's closed, and then they'll panic. My hope is is that with patience, they will, be able to navigate that. But also sometimes from a city perspective when we do a project like this and it's when you actually close it and you see which way people are starting to go, there may be some things that we can tweak and do that will help the traffic flow in certain areas, which we'll we'll have to do,” the staff member said.

No formal action, vote or funding detail was announced during the remarks. Staff presented the update as project status and community notification rather than as a decision requiring a vote.