Bogged down: Commuters, businesses feeling pinch of First Avenue water line work in Evansville

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — The traffic pain along a section of First Avenue in Evansville is going to last a bit longer than originally planned.

Evansville Water and Sewer Utility's replacement of 7,900 feet of water main pipes beneath the heavily traveled road was expected to be finished in the early spring.

It now has a targeted completion date sometime in June or July, according to the utility's executive director, Lane Young.

The nearly $8 million First Avenue project is part of EWSU's Refresh Evansville, the city's plan to replace about 1,000 miles of aging water mains and supporting infrastructure at a cost of more than $700 million. It has caused a glut of traffic congestion and commuter delays in the areas the construction is taking place along First Avenue from Morgan to Colonial Avenue.

More:Evansville saw over 900 water main breaks the past three years. Here's what being fixed.

Young noted that the First Avenue water main replacement project had two obstacles: congestion above ground, with heavy traffic in an area full of businesses and residences, and congestion below ground, where EWSU's construction and engineering teams were working to replace some of the oldest water systems in the city in a crowded space, full of other utilities and piping systems.

Part of the reason for the delay is that EWSU's design and engineering didn't have a clear understanding of the overall size of the system underneath Uhlhorn Street (where Pigeon Creek crosses First Avenue) and ran out of space to install a new 36-inch water main around it. That three feet of pipe matters, too, as a typical installation spans from 8 to 12 inches. 

Why so big? The new water main under First Avenue is expected to feed 20 percent of all EWSU water, enabling the agency to distribute water to northern Vanderburgh County as well as Gibson County.

The utility's solution to its problem was to dig deeper, about 20 feet or so. That part of the project starts in mid-January. 

"We didn't know how deep it was because this utility was installed in the 1900s," Young said. "It's been in there for a long time. So we don't have the kind of record drawings and accurate locating information that we do now."

Reactions to the ongoing construction from local business owners and employees is mixed: Some frustration with longer morning commutes and concerns about losing customers while others don't feel affected much, if at all, by it.

Stacey Ellis-Moore, owner of His N Hers Flea Market on North First Avenue near Pigeon Creek, said she saw an "immediate" 25 percent decline in customers last July when construction started in her area. 

More:Expect lane restrictions on First Avenue this year as EWSU replaces large water main

Anyone heading north on First Avenue couldn't turn left into her flea market, Ellis-Moore said, with the construction acting as both a physical and psychological deterrent to customers.

"Anybody seeing the new billboard I put up and thinks, 'Oh, I should turn in there,' see all that construction and don't think it's worth it," she said. "I had a customer tell me it took her 20 minutes just to get from Target to my store."

The Target on First Avenue is just 1.6 miles away from His N Hers.

Ellis-Moore said her commute to work hasn't been hindered by the construction, but others working in the area haven't been so lucky.

Kate McCoy, a stylist at Off the Top, a hair salon off Diamond Avenue across from Walmart, said she had to change her normal route to work, deciding to go down Old State Road instead of Diamond Avenue because she'd sometimes be sitting at red lights for "more than 10 minutes."

More:Lane Young named to lead Evansville Water & Sewer Utility

And even her new route has problems, as she's often stuck at the one-lane road for multiple traffic-light cycles, waiting for the flashing yellow arrow to turn green.

"It really stinks because it's a one-lane road," McCoy said. "If I have to turn, and cars in front of me have to turn, that's holding the cars behind us back. Then I start freaking out and just turn into Walmart and have to turn around."

Because the majority of her clients are by appointment, McCoy hasn't seen a drop-off in customers. Walk-in traffic, however, is down, given the difficulty of accessing the side road the salon is on, she said.

Businesses that have several ways to get to them seem to be handling the construction better than those that only have one or two access points.

Libby & Mom's Cafe owner Elizabeth Lunceford said she hasn't suffered a lack of customers because of the construction, but has seen it affect how long her employees take to get to work, especially the closer they live to First Avenue. She was surprised one day last week when an employee, who lives right off First Avenue, got to work on time.

"(Construction) has definitely messed with our employees getting here," Lunceford said. "Our business hasn't been affected much, if at all, because we have so many different ways for people to get to us."

Young said he understands the impact EWSU construction is having on businesses and commuters in the area. That's why EWSU runs and monitors a website that provides updates on where their process is on the First Avenue project.

One of EWSU's main goals was to ensure that North First Avenue never had to completely close, and they've been able to achieve that so far, he said.

As for where the First Avenue project stands in context with everything Refresh Evansville is trying to accomplish, its completion — by the summer of 2022 or later — won't mean that construction in the city will be over anytime soon.

Young estimated that about 5 percent of the city's 1,000 miles of water mains have been replaced, including what's already been completed under First Avenue. It will most likely be decades until it's all completed, a statement on the EWSU website reads.

So, even when the construction on First Avenue ends, another part of the city will eventually experience heavier traffic and delays. Construction on the North Kerth Avenue water main replacement is scheduled to begin in the spring. The same goes for the Harmony Way and Franklin Heights water main improvements.

For people affected by the construction, like Ellis-Moore, it's important to remember the delays and commuter headaches won't last forever.

"They pulled the cones up at the left and right turns two weeks ago, so now you can turn right or left into the parking lot," she said. "I think it's at the point of only being annoying now."

Contact Ray Couture at rcouture@courierpress.com or on Twitter @raybc94