Alerts

The East Frontage Road south from Continental Road to Golf Haven will close Jan. 18 for nine months, according to the Pima County Department of Transportation.

Follow up:

Drivers will see barricades going up this week on that mile-and-quarter stretch of road, said Damon Ballesteros, the department's project manager.

Residents and emergency crews will be detoured south on the frontage road to Torres Blancas and then east to Abrego Road, Louis Gonzales of the PCDOT said Monday in Green Valley.

Work by Tucson-based Borderland Construction Co. to improve the Frontage Road, including changes in alignment and access, and to Continental Road is expected to be completed in October.

The northbound entrance onto Interstate 19 at Continental should reopen by mid-February, according to Ballesteros.

Currently, the "I-19 Frontage Road: Canoa Road to Continental Road Improvement Project" is on schedule and may get further ahead of the timetable, especially if mild weather conditions continue, he added.

More than 80 local residents and representatives of businesses in the construction area turned out for the meeting.

The decision to close the frontage road while the construction work is under way was based on the department's concern for driver safety and emergency vehicles, Ballesteros said.

The department talked to area businesses and emergency providers and considered the limited space Borderland has to work within, the congestion and safety concerns of allowing limited traffic through during the construction, and even whether to build a temporary road before presenting at the meeting its recommendation to close the frontage completely while the work takes place, he said.

Green Valley resident Tom Ward, local representative of Pima County Supervisor Ray Carroll, summed up the crowd's sentiments by saying, "the faster you get it started, the faster it will be completed."

By Karen Walenga, Green Valley News

kwalenga@gvnews.com | 547-9739