Work begins today on the intersection of Blake Rd. and Coors Blvd. in the far South Valley. This long-awaited, and oft-discussed here, project will provide huge, and hugely needed, driving and pedestrian improvements at this intersection, one of the all-around unfriendliest in town.

Being a selfish person, a big reason I’ve posted so much on this project is that I work at South Valley Academy (SVA), located on Blake Rd. roughly (and it is very rough) 200 feet from this very intersection. The handy-dandy map above prepared by my school’s Tech Coordinator shows the necessary detour, as Blake will be closed at Coors.

The long-term results of the project will be lovely, but, as you can probably imagine, the months of construction/closure will be logistically tough. To give a bit more context, Blake has typical daily traffic counts over twice that of Barcelona Road (~6,000 v. 2,700), location of the detour above in red. In addition, Barcelona itself is in the midst of road/sewer work, in particular at the corner of Barcelona and Joe Sanchez Rd., the detour connector to Blake.

Lovely.

Things will most likely smooth out, a bit, as drivers get used to the situation; today will very likely be anything but smooth. As for me, living nearby along the ditches that run north/south right next to SVA, I’m bundling up and cycling on this cold morning, as I usually do.

I promise not to laugh under my balaclava as I cross what might well be the “parking lot” that is Barcelona Road this morning. And the next morning. And the next.

Be safe out there, everybody…