WACO, Texas — A new online tool from the city of Waco is helping people track downtown construction as multiple street closures create headaches for drivers and business owners.
The site gives citizens a look at current and future projects, as well as timelines for those projects as they progress.
"We wanted a way to ensure that our residents that are traveling to the downtown area had a better indication of what was happening with a number of various improvements that we're doing," said Monica Sedelmeier, director of communication and marketing for the city.
We've created a project map for area projects affecting traffic flow & started w/the downtown area. We know it can be frustrating, but we are working hard to coordinate projects to get us to an improved downtown AND Waco! We appreciate your patience!
— City of Waco, Texas (@cityofwaco) February 14, 2022
Map: https://t.co/XxaeqcDoFP pic.twitter.com/pYHyJ7L9YH
Brazos River Supply Co., which estimates it has lost a third of its business to construction on 5th Street, is hopeful the new tool will help people get around.
"It could be a good tool for people to use to determine where they can go, where they can kind of navigate, park, and that sort of thing," said owner Coleburn Davis.
Davis said the construction makes it hard for visitors to downtown to find his shop.
"They see all those cones, all that yellow tape, they find another street to walk down," he said. "They never come by the shop, they never see the shop."
The Findery, located at the corner of 8th St. and Webster Ave., has also been impacted by waves of construction, as many customers struggle to even get to the building.
"It changes so often that all of the navigation doesn't lead them to a good route to actually get to the stores," said director of operations for The Findery, Matt Koen.
The city says it empathizes with people frustrated by construction downtown but emphasizes that the finished product will be worth the wait.
"We also realize that the improvements that it will do in the future will be worth it, and we ask for patience and grace as we go through this process," Sedelmeier said.
Most of the construction projects listed on the map have a completion date within the next two months. As of now, the tool focuses on downtown construction projects, but it hopes to expand it in the future.
