Underpass Coming Soon!

For a decade now the idea of an underpass at Highway 63 has been something of a white whale for me. Early on during in my tenure the plans for an underpass were presented to me not as an idea, but a reality that would happen within the next 6 months. Then 6 months would go by and, well before you know it here we are. Over the years there were multiple iterations of the project. At first it was to be included as part of the original bike path project. Then it was delayed and scheduled to be included as part of what was coined 'Phase II'. I'm not sure what else might be included in this Phase or if it has happened yet. Then when the DOT took up the replacement of Highway 63 through town I thought for certain that would be the year! After all, they tore up the entire road (bed and all) from Silver Eagle north of town to just south of Mrs. Petry's. It made perfect sense to do it then, right? Wrong. (The road by the way is awesome, remember how bad it was?)

Originally the design called for the underpass to be constructed at the site of the current crosswalk to the school. This would have been roughly at the intersection of Highway 63 and Wood Street (or Schrock Road depending on your orientation). For a crosswalk this serves our purpose of a safe route to school well. For an underpass on the other hand, the grade just doesn't work all that well. So we came up with the suggestion to move it to the location where it is currently being constructed. Where First Street intersects Cedar Street. There are a couple of key benefits to this location. First, the grade works much better; and second, the location puts it not quite in the geographic center of the neighborhood across the highway. This means it is much more likely to be used by someone who lives on Carmela Drive (for example) as opposed to walking all the way town to Wood Street.

Admittedly this change in concept was probably at least partially to blame for the delay. Nevertheless, it takes a lot of time and patience to convince the Department of Transportation that it is necessary to close down a portion of a major US Highway! Then when you involve engineers in the mix it really tends to gum up the system. In the final analysis though, a big thank you needs to be extended to the City of Hudson and the Council for their perseverance over the years. Had they not had the fortitude to stick with it, we may still be wondering if the underpass was going to come to fruition!

We are very close at this point. The underpass is scheduled to be finished sometime in late October or early November. Our intention at the school is to discontinue the use of a crossing guard at that time. During the initial phase of opening, we'll have our crossing guard stationed at the corner of Ardis Street by the cul-de-sac where it traverses back to the northeast (running somewhat parallel to the higway). They will be responsible for directing pedestrian traffic to the underpass. Soon afterward we'll close in the fence at that opening, remove the stoplight on the highway, and remove the sidewalk across the south end of the football field. After a few weeks we'll also stop using that crossing guard. Please be sure to stay tuned as we get closer to project completion.