East Granville widening: city weighs full closure to speed work and limit extra costs
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Summary
Officials told the Services Committee a full closure of East Granville for the widening could cut the schedule to about 12–18 months and potentially save an estimated $250,000–$700,000 versus maintaining traffic, but detour routing and truck 'point of no return' remain concerns for residents.
Carla (city staff) briefed the committee on early coordination with ODOT and the county about maintenance-of-traffic options for the East Granville Street widening. She said the project team prepared detour plans targeted at truck traffic and that ODOT approved a full-closure option that would allow contractors to accelerate work.
Carla said a full closure could allow the project to be completed in roughly 12–18 months; maintaining traffic in one direction would likely add about six months. "Closure 12 to 18 months. If we needed to maintain traffic in each direction, it's anticipated that it would add approximately 6 months to construction," she said.
She characterized the project's construction estimate as roughly $7–7.5 million and said maintaining traffic during construction typically adds about 5–10% to the cost, which could translate into roughly $250,000–$700,000 in additional expense. Carla cautioned the exact savings depend on bidder proposals and project complexities, especially retaining walls.
Committee members raised practical concerns about detour routing. One member described the Kroger/Jersey Mike's crossing as a "death trap" and asked whether right-turn restrictions, additional signage or route choices could be used to keep trucks from entering narrow residential streets. Carla said the approved detour targets trucks and that the city will deploy 'local traffic only' signage and slow-down alerts where needed, but she acknowledged enforcement and driver behavior remain challenges.
Carla also noted the city will need to vet point-of-no-return locations for westbound truck traffic and consider where trucks could safely turn around if they miss signage; she identified 605 as a possible critical turn point for westbound traffic. Staff said they will continue coordination with ODOT and the county and refine detour and communication plans before construction.
Next steps are continued coordination, final detour-plan publication and communications to residents and businesses; no formal vote or final decision on closure was recorded at the meeting.
