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Lee Boulevard segments to close for construction
A portion of Lee Boulevard in the central campus will be reduced to one-way traffic for about two months beginning Monday, Feb. 26, during the first phase of a central heating-cooling system extension. Westbound traffic that ordinarily would use Lee Boulevard between George Perry Street and Tracy Drive will instead detour onto Walker Road, rejoining Lee just east of the football stadium. Eastbound traffic will continue to use Lee Boulevard while pipes are laid in the block-long section of the street. Eastbound traffic on Lee Boulevard will encounter a new, temporary stop sign at the intersection with Tracy Drive. Other sections of Lee Boulevard will be closed separately in May and June as the heating-cooling system extends from the intersection of Lee and Perry at the YMCA Building to Davis Wade Stadium at Scott Field. The extension will provide central heating and cooling to the eastside stadium expansion and will allow the Lloyd-Ricks Building to be connected to the system in the future. The first phase of the planned construction should be complete by late April and the affected section of Lee will then be reopened to two-way traffic, said Robert Johnston, assistant director of Physical Plant for facilities planning and construction. At that point, on about May 1, a short section of Lee Boulevard between Tracy Drive and the west end of Walker Road will be closed to all traffic for about a month. Westbound traffic that ordinarily would use Lee Boulevard to approach the Five Points intersection can instead turn left onto Tracy Drive and then take Darden Street west into the intersection. Lee Boulevard should again be completely open to two-way traffic by about June 1. At that point, the west end of Walker Road will be closed to allow the final stage of construction to reach the stadium. Walker Road will remain open from its east end intersection with Perry Street through most of its length in front of the Chapel of Memories, Hull Hall, and the Butler-Williams Alumni Center, but it will temporarily be a dead end street closed to through traffic. Dates of the expected street closings illustrated in the accompanying maps are approximations, Johnston said.
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