Drivers who frequent Calhoun Road between the 4600 and 4700 blocks will have to resort to a slight detour as Calhoun Loft construction makes its way underground for the next two weeks.
Scheduled by the City of Houston because of the construction and utility connections of Calhoun Lofts, alternative routes for the Calhoun Road UH route will be available from Wednesday through Aug. 5.
Calhoun Road’s northbound lane will be redirected to the west side from Wednesday through July 29. Once completed, the southbound lane will then be redirected to the east side of Calhoun from July 30 to Aug. 5.
Facilities Planning and Construction Project Manager Mei Chang said the detour schedule was selected to minimize interruption for drivers.
"We wanted to be sure to contact the buildings that are adjacent to the construction site and are currently having summer classes because we feel these colleges will probably have people that park in our vicinity," Chang said.
Melcher Hall, Cullen College of Engineering and the UH Law Center are among the colleges that will be directly affected, however the alternate routes are not expected to affect any parking lots or the daily 10 a.m. traffic rush.
"The crosswalk from Melcher to (Calhoun) will also not be affected because the construction does not start until after that point," Chang said.
The permit was signed in May, but the traffic control plan submitted by the city of Houston was not decided on until July 17.
"Getting the permit was a long process, it was signed off by nine people in May, and then we needed to contact the (Houston) contractor to find an opening in their schedule," Chang said. "After that, the city decided how to adjust the traffic detour based on material delivery needs.
Along with the mass e-mail sent to the different colleges informing them to communicate this with students and faculty, there will also be flagmen, signage and barrels to create a smooth transition for drivers.
"If all goes smoothly and we do not encounter any unforeseen conditions underground, the construction should be completed on August 5," Chang said. "If there is some conflict we may need to bypass that date for additional work."
For more information regarding the detour, call Plant Operations at (713) 743-5579 or visit http://uh.edu/plantops/fpc.html.
