MARC JACOBS
Hutch Post
UPDATE: Starting Thursday, Feb. 27, the Woodie Seat detour will be in place. Note that the city has changed the detour to include the Main Street closure because of the natrual gas explosion and fire from Saturday Feb. 22.
The city added that they are working hard to minimize disruption, and as soon as Avenue F and Main Street is open, they will reevaluate the detour and make any necessary changes.
Important Note: Truck traffic is allowed on Bigger Street during the detour.
ORIGINAL STORY: The Woodie Seat project is about to start up again. We had Hutchinson Public Works Director Cecil Weible in to talk about the activity that will be starting up again.
Weible said that the detours will be going up next week. “The first phase of that is going to kick off on February 27 we going to start the road closures all the detours will go up and into place.” Weible continued “The actual work will begin on the following Monday.”
Detours for the project will be Adams and Monroe northbound and southbound, and Second Avenue and Avenue F.
Phase II consists of the removal of the bridges at Avenue A and Avenue B, to bring the roadway down to “ground” level and the installation of the Roundabout on Avenue A.
With all the demolition, there will be additional truck traffic on the south end of Hutchinson. The city has designated a truck route for the removal of the dirt from the project. That route will be Avenue F to Plum Street then south on Plum Street to Avenue G out to Severance.
There is a spot there that the state owns where they will put the dirt for a project the state has coming up.
The timeline for completion of the project is January 2026. However, the contractor thinks that they may be able to complete it sooner.
Once the construction of the roundabout is complete, the parks department will top off the project with signage and plants in the roundabout.
We asked why a roundabout vs a traffic signaled intersection; it is all in the numbers according to Weible. The data shows that roundabouts are safer. It virtually eliminates T-collisions. Also, they are cheaper to maintain. Weible said that traffic systems are expensive whereas roundabouts are very low maintenance. It makes sense to install them.
The city says that they will continue to provide updates via their Facebook page.