The roundabout construction means the intersection will be shut down for the duration of the work. The work will be done in tandem and was supposed to begin when school let out for the summer after Memorial Day, but Wilkens said there is a chance it might start sooner since schools could be closed for the rest of the school year.
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“They (the contractors) would like to start on that job but we’re just seeing the impacts of school,” Wilkens said. “We’re trying to figure that out. We would hate to start that project and then school come back and we have a mess.”
The only potential problem is the $377,000 intersection improvement at Tylersville Road and Chantilly Drive is still underway.
“I’d love to see them start it early except for the fact that they’ve got that project going on, the 10-week project that has Tylersville shut down,” West Chester Twp. Trustee Mark Welch said. “If you shut down Lesourdesville-West Chester and you still have a shut down on Tylersville that could be a real problem. The detour around that would be miles long.”
Wilkens said the same contractor is doing both projects so Tylersville will reopen before Lesourdesville-West Chester closes.
The roundabout project is near Lakota Ridge Junior High School and down the road from Freedom Elementary School. The drainage project is in the vicinity of Lakota West High School.
The drainage project, which will be paid for out of township tax increment financing, or TIF, funds, had an early estimate of $1.8 million and the roundabout $1.6 million. County and federal funds are paying for the roundabout.
If the drainage and new roundabout projects can’t be moved up, West Chester Community Services Director Tim Franck said previously the situation may be similar to the roundabout construction at Beckett and Smith roads two years ago.
“The project at Smith and Beckett did bleed into the school year and there were complaints, but every effort is made to communicate and encourage motorists to be patient and allow extra time,” Franck said.
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