Bridge repairs disrupt business on North Loop
LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - The flow of traffic on the North Loop is now back to normal after an accident sparked a series of closures and repairs.
TXDOT shut down the North Loop's westbound lanes again on Wednesday morning to allow crews to cover the damage on the Ash Avenue overpass, which was struck by a tractor-trailer pulling a pump jack on Monday.
The detours caused by the closures caused headaches for some businesses along the Loop, including Hartman Roofing.
"The bridge is closed, so I have to go through [Martin Luther King Boulevard], circle back around, and come to our office," sales representative Doug Wright said. "When we leave, we can't go across the bridge to go east. We have to go through the neighborhood back here. That was the worst inconvenience."
Wright says the closures slowed down his and his co-workers' morning commute and also inconvenienced several of their customers.
"Our customers who come in, not knowing how to get here to begin with," Wright said. "You give them directions to here and they try to follow directions and they get through there and they can't get across the bridge. You got somebody who doesn't know the system and it's all over."
He says the lack of warnings along the road contributed to the confusion.
"They should have signs saying, 'When you take the exit off the Loop, the bridge is closed,'" Wright said.
TxDOT had an engineer assess the extent of the damage Tuesday, but officials say it is still too soon for them to determine what kind of repairs need to be done and how long they will take.
"I just hope that they don't have to tear the whole bridge apart just to fix that one column; but if they do, that's going to take a long time," Wright said.
In the meantime, Wright says he and his co-workers will just have to deal with a few adjustments.
"They just leave a little earlier and get here when they're supposed to," Wright said. "We'll just do what we got to do until it gets fixed."
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