Widening Of Division To Begin By Month’s End $2.7 Million Project Planned Between Euclid, Wellesley
Flaggers and construction crews will again be the norm on Division Street as another major road-widening project gets under way this month.
The state Department of Transportation plans to widen Division between Euclid and Wellesley to seven lanes. When finished, the street will carry three lanes of northbound traffic and three lanes of southbound traffic and will have a center turn lane.
The existing traffic signals at Bridgeport and Garland will be replaced, and the Longfellow signal will be removed.
“It’s going to be congested, no doubt about it,” said Al Gilson, DOT spokesman. “It’s all for the better, though.”
State officials hope to start construction by the end of this month. Work is expected to be completed in five months.
The project will begin with island removal, pavement grinding and utility replacement. Construction may continue through the winter, depending on weather.
The $2.7 million project represents the latest effort to improve the safety and vehicle flow along Division Street, which is a federal highway and the North Side’s main commercial strip.
The latest stretch of work picks up at the north end of the Division-Ruby couplet and continues to NorthTown.
That section of Division carries close to 40,000 cars a day.
State crews already have contacted Division business owners about the widening. Much of the work will be done at night to reduce the impact on businesses.
Some driveways and store access points will be rebuilt, Gilson said.
The city already has started its own project around NorthTown to ease traffic congestion near the city’s largest shopping mall. One lane will be added to Division in each direction at Queen, and the lane for northbound traffic turning left from Division onto Wellesley will be lengthened.
The city’s project, to be completed by October, will cost $2.3 million, with half of the money coming from the state. A share of the project cost will also be paid by NorthTown, which is giving up right of way valued at $260,000, city engineers said.
, DataTimes