CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Add Morgan Avenue to the growing list of major road projects in Corpus Christi. If you've driven down that road, you know it's a bumpy ride.
But thanks to money from two bonds, one of these days, it will be as smooth as silk.
By the end of the month, crews will start working on a section of Morgan from Staples to Crosstown. Then in the next phase, they will work on Morgan from Ocean Drive to Staples.
Right now, business owners along the stretch describe the area as having a lot of pot holes, it being a bumpy ride, and major flooding occurs when it rains.
"We get say, a couple of inches of rain, our street here floods very easily," said Servando Laurel, the owner of City Barber Shop.
But the big makeover on the way will fix some of those drainage issues. Crews will also repave the road and add new sidewalks too.
"It's a little bit late but they're going to do it, and thank God," said Laurel.
However Laurel, who's been cutting hair there for 55 years, worries it's going to be a close shave for his business while construction is underway.
"I'd imagine that I will lose some (customers), I'm sure," said Laurel. "I hope that my customers will be able to understand the situation and cope with what is there."
Just down the street, Connie Martinez owns Fruit King. She and other business owners got a letter from the city with some information about the project, but it left her with a lot of unanswered questions.
When KRIS 6 asked what she knew about the project, she said, "Not much... (But) I'm hoping that it won't affect us because we have good prices here and good business. The people love us here."
Martinez is glad the project is getting underway, but she just hopes the city will work with her and other business owners so their customers don't run into a dead end.
"I hope they work with us, because we need our customers' parking," said Martinez.
The city says this project will take about a year-and-a-half to complete. Right now, the expected completion date is early 2021.
Fire station No. 3 is also on the stretch of Morgan Avenue that will be under construction. The department tells KRIS 6 the city will work with them so their emergency vehicles can enter and exit the station without any delays.
And if it seems like there's road work everywhere you turn, you're right.
Since last week, there have been road closures related to five new road projects.
Those closures were expected to last anywhere from a few days to several months.
According to information from the city, work is also underway on eight major road projects related to bond proposals approved by voters.
There are nine streets that are being repaired as part of the street preventive maintenance program.
And 15 streets are being worked on as part of the city's residential street rebuild project.
There are also six projects related to utility work are also going on.
And of course, there is the ongoing Harbor Bridge Project and the SPID ramp reversal project.
