Garth Brooks Blvd. construction starts July 15

A construction project in Yukon starts next Monday on one of the city's busiest streets, Garth Brooks Boulevard.

YUKON, Okla. (KFOR) - A construction project in Yukon starts next Monday on one of the city's busiest streets, Garth Brooks Boulevard.

Traffic cones are already lining the road, between Vandament and Main, ahead of the construction.

"Garth Brooks is one of our busiest streets," said Jenna Roberson, with the city of Yukon.

Garth Brooks Blvd. is widely-traveled. It's lined with businesses and homes with driveways directly connected to it.

"People are always going up and down it," said Roberson.

With that comes obvious wear and tear. Roberson said in a recent city survey, Yukon residents wanted road repairs.

"Garth Brooks Blvd was definitely a hot topic," said Roberson.

On Monday, July 15, Garth Brooks Blvd. is getting a mill, asphalt and overlay facelift.

"They are going to take out a layer of the existing pavement and they are going to grind that down and uhm, replace that with new asphalt," said Roberson.

The construction is happening along Garth Brooks Blvd from Main to Vandament, a mile stretch. The city is keeping at least one lane open in each direction during the project.. which is expected to last 30 days.

This is also happening right in front of Yukon Middle School.

Many residents commenting on Facebook, worried the construction will be happening right when school starts back up again on August 14th.

"We will do everything we can to make sure that this project is going to be complete before school starts," said Roberson.

Many asked why wait to do the project until right before the new year.

Roberson said the project was originally slated for early Fall, but they worked with the Association for Central Oklahoma Government and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation to move it to the Summer.

The city was awarded a $900,000 grant by ACOG, though the CRRSSAA Grant. ODOT is making sure the Covid dollars are spent correctly.

This leaves the city only paying less than $100,000 dollars.

"It really saved a lot of taxpayer money," said Roberson.

News 4 asked Yukon Public Schools if it had a plan just in case the project takes longer than expected. A spokesperson told us "Our team will continue to manage the situation as construction continues and will make changes as or if needed for drop off / pick up."