Verbatim announcement from the city of Fort Wayne:
The first phase of the Time Corners traffic improvement project is scheduled to start Monday, March 3. This project will involve the intersections of Jefferson Boulevard and Getz and Covington roads.
For about two weeks starting Monday, westbound traffic on Jefferson will be down to one lane. Eastbound traffic on Jefferson will be maintain two through lanes. The City’s Traffic Engineering Department will provide updates to traffic pattern modifications throughout the project.
City officials expect traffic congestion in this area throughout construction and encourage motorists to find alternate routes.
This is the first of 12 phases of construction in this high-traffic area. City Engineer Dave Ross said the City is doing the project incrementally to keep some lanes open throughout construction, which is important to the businesses in the area. Ross said the project is scheduled to be complete by Oct. 25.
The realignment of intersections and turn lanes will ultimately improve traffic flow, although drivers will have to get accustomed to new traffic patterns, said Public Works Director Bob Kennedy.
“These intersections are getting the attention they need,” Kennedy said. “We are anticipating the construction will cause traffic congestion, but this temporary inconvenience is going to be a long-term solution to a heavily traveled area.”
There are five areas of concentration for improvement:
1. Realigning the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Covington Road, making the section of Covington Road between Jefferson and Getz Road two-way.
2. Reconfiguring the existing Jefferson entrance to Time Corners shopping center for only a right-turn entrance from Jefferson.
3. Adding a shopping center new entrance east of the current one with a traffic signal allowing for both right- and left-turn entrances from Jefferson.
4. Eliminating the left turn from southbound Getz to Jefferson by allowing drivers to use the new two-way Covington Road to Jefferson. Both directions of Jefferson will also have reconstructed left-turn lanes onto Getz.
5. At the intersection of Getz and Covington, Getz will have two through lanes and a left-turn lane in each direction. There will be no left turn from westbound Covington onto Getz, but it will have a dedicated right-turn lane.
Other parts of the project include new street lighting, curb and gutter improvements and replacing the grass median on Jefferson with a curbed median with grass in the middle. A new sidewalk on the east side of Getz from Wilkie Drive to the Time Corners entrance will also be added. Traffic signals will be updated to the new traffic patterns.
