Heads up if you normally drive 168th between West Dodge and West Maple. That stretch of road will be closed for several months beginning Wednesday, March 1.
168th Street will be widened from two lanes to four lanes and a median and left-turn lanes will also be added. The project also will include improvements to the 168th and Blondo Streets intersection, including dual left and right turn lanes. "So that will give us five lane section from West Dodge to just north of West Maple," says City Engineer Todd Pfitzer.
He says the project was initially scheduled to be done in two phases over the next couple of years. But the city combined both phases so that it will all be done by the end of the year.
Business owners along that stretch of 168th are concerned that having the road closed for such a long time will impact their businesses though. Kevin Irish, owner of Paw Spa, says he hopes his customer base is enough to carry his business through the long haul. "We'll live through it and thank goodness for our great customers. I think that we have a really solid community of retailers out here that have reached out and I think will bring everybody back to us. So, I think we'll be okay."