Fort Worth's West 7th Street project delayed, causing headaches for drivers and businesses
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Fort Worth's popular West 7th district attracts people not only from the metroplex but from out of state.
But there's a lingering frustration with many people who live and work there—the traffic caused by a major construction project along West 7th street.
The project has gone past its projected completion date which originally was set for May 2022, however several months past that date, orange signs and cones string along that busy corridor stretching from the West 7th bridge to University Drive as of Sept. 1.
The project includes median upgrades with landscaping, protected bike lanes, traffic signal improvements as part of the 2018 bond package voters approved—but right now—it's causing headaches.
"If you're coming here between like 3 and 6, at least like 20 minutes to get from the 5-way to downtown at least 20 minutes minimum," said Dominic Melendez, who drives along the corridor.
"It seems it was May of '21 when they started tearing it up and I thought, 'oh this wont take too long—and now it is'," said Denise Luper, who lives nearby.
And if it's not the construction that gets you, the trains will when they pass by next to the busy Tom Thumb.
The congestion eats away revenue for small businesses like Emmy's Smokehouse.
"Originally they had a fence blocked up so you couldn't even see the establishment because of the fence they had so it's been hard for people to recognize that there's actually a restaurant here and it's been killing sales," said John Cobio, assistant manger at Emmy's Smokehouse.
CBS 11 News reached out to the city, and said the delay is due to staffing issues with the contractor on the project.
The recent rain the area is experiencing also stalls the project too, as the city said the site needs to dry before work can resume.
The city pointed out this delay will not cost taxpayers more money, and the new completion day is set for the end of October.