By INGRID MALDONADO
Construction on highway 281 has affected local communities like the College Hill Church of Christ, the Baptist Collegiate Ministry and Northwest Nutrition.
With construction, students are often afraid to cross the street to go to these local areas and others from the community completely avoid the street.
“We’ve seen a little bit of decline just because before we had a lot of students that would walk across the street from the college, and now with construction, I think some of them are a little hesitant to walk across the construction area,” said the owner of Northwest Nutrition, Jeramie Bradford.
When walking across the highway, students have to press the button to signal they are walking so cars can stop to let them pass. Now, students have to be aware of their surroundings even more with the construction.
“I think what it has done, has made it more dangerous for people to go across the crosswalk because they have orange flashing lights all the time,” said Miles Harris, the director of the Baptist College Ministry at Northwestern. “And then when you push the crosswalk light, it’s just another yellow light going off, and I don’t think people pay attention as much as they used to.”
It not only affects students’ walking but as well as car traffic. Bradford said there has been a decline not only from students walking to Northwest Nutrition but also from people who drive there. He explained having multiple entry ways to the building has helped but some people don’t know that and it has affected his business.
Steve Hamm, the minister of College Hill Church of Christ said it hasn’t impacted the amount that goes to church on Sunday or the free Tuesday lunches. It has impacted the parking situation the most, he said.
“It pushes people to park along this north side, but they extend it into the road, the driveway that we have,”
Hamm said. “So, they’ll park all the way to the alley, so we can’t get through.”
Hamm explained this all began last year when they were doing construction in the alley for piping.
People couldn’t get into their parking lot and then with the rain it, they had a lot of mud, he said. Neither Hamm, Harris or Bradford knew construction was going to happen.
“I didn’t get any letters from the city, the state, or phone calls or nothing that said it was going to happen, the same thing with the alley,” Harris said.
Harris said construction has not affected the number of students going to the BCM but explained crossing the highway has become more dangerous and how construction has made the area look rough.