Payson Roundup

What would you rather have: massive pain all at once or the drip-drip-drip of congestion?

Give it to us all at once, says the Payson Public Works Department.

So on Thursday, the town’s traffic gurus will ask the council for permission to start working around the clock on the roundabout construction at the Airport Road intersection with Highway 87.

The Arizona Department of Transportation expects to have the highway tied up for the next three months with construction of the $1.2-million, federally funded roundabout.

ADOT traffic engineers say the roundabout will reduce congestion and cause fewer accidents than a traffic light, but the construction process will scramble traffic on the highway much more than the installation of a signal.

Public Works Director LaRon Garrett wants to reduce the duration of the project by giving road crews clearance to work around the clock.

“In an effort to meet this aggressive (90-day) schedule and to have warm enough temperatures at the end of the project to place final pavement, the contractor needs to work 24 hours a day. The current proposed schedule to work from Sunday at 10 p.m. until Friday at 12 p.m. There will be no work from noon on Friday until Sunday night to avoid conflicts with the weekend traffic.”

Garrett needed the council’s approval because the town code currently requires all construction work to start no earlier than 5 a.m. and stop no later than 10 p.m. — to ensure people in the neighborhood can sleep peacefully.

Fortunately, few people live close to the intersection.

The council will consider the request to waive the usual rules on construction at its meeting on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.