Construction is seen near the Oxford Commons Sunday. DM Photo | Cady Herring
A new road, which will run from Sisk Avenue to Route 30, is under construction in the front of the Oxford Commons development.
The $1.6 million project is expected to provide a second access road for the Oxford Commons development, safer conditions for the new Oxford High School building — located adjacent to the development — and help foster commercial development in the area.
Completion is expected in spring 2015.
“The road was planned as part of the city’s transportation plan years ago and then proposed again by the developers of the Oxford Commons’ Planned Unit Development,” said Bart Robinson, city of Oxford engineer. “The city was looking for an avenue to provide additional access to the Oxford Commons area with the opening of the new school. While working with the developers, the idea we discussed was a special assessment bond with the city contributing $500,000 toward the construction.”
Not only will this provide groundwork for Oxford Commons, but it will also improve the interconnectivity of Oxford’s roadway network and decrease traffic congestion on Sisk Avenue.
According to assistant city engineer Reanna Mayoral, Oxford Commons Boulevard will provide a more direct route between Oxford Elementary School and Della Davidson Elementary School since the development will make it unnecessary for parents and school buses to merge onto Route 7.
Construction for Oxford Commons Boulevard began in summer 2014, but the discussions of the new road began over a year ago with property owners funding the special assessment.
Once it was decided to issue the special assessment bond and for Oxford to contribute $500,000, the city proceeded with the process of dispensing the bonds. The next step was for Oxford to hire a consultant to design the road. It was then advertised over the summer that Oxford would accept bids on the construction. Bids were received and the Board of Aldermen gave the contract for construction to the lowest bidder.
The project was awarded to M&N Excavators Inc. of Oxford with a bid total of $1,644,586.06.
The City will pay $500,000 toward the construction cost with the remainder being assessed back to the property owners through a special assessment on taxes. The final product will consist of a road roughly 3,200 feet in length and a traffic light on Highway 30.
According to Mayoral, the city did not purchase the land. The land was designated as a right-of-way and was deeded in exchange for the city accepting maintenance of the roadway and infrastructure.
Mayoral said the majority of new roads in Oxford are built by private developers according to city specifications and then donated to the city upon final inspection.
As the Oxford Commons development continues to grow, there will be additional traffic that cannot be served by Sisk Avenue alone.
The extension of Oxford Commons Boulevard was needed to relieve congestion and provide another access point on Sisk Avenue, Mayoral said. This extension also provides another access point in the event of an emergency.
President of Precision Engineering and Project Manager Paul Koshenina said, “Oxford Commons Boulevard provides an additional corridor into the 582 acre-mixed used development that will act as alternate access from a new traffic signal at Highway 30, which creates safer conditions for the newly constructed Oxford High School campus and Della Davidson Elementary.”
According to Robinson, the road will experience definite peaks during the traditional times for school traffic and become a major contributor to the road system in the area once Oxford Commons begins experiencing continued development and growth.
Oxford Commons Boulevard will also service significant future commercial, retail, restaurant and professional office spaces, as well as the recently completed Towne Place Suites and Hampton Inn along with the Oxford Conference Center and Malco Theater community center expansion currently underway, Koshenina said.
Also, Oxford Commons will contain the Malco Movie Theater and Premier Oxford, a community center. The community center will offer a bowling alley, gaming area, laser tag arena, mini golf and more. The completion of Oxford Commons, which includes Premier Oxford, will be during winter break 2015.
“Additions to our road network provide welcomed additional routes for vehicular, bicycle and pedestrian traffic,” Robinson said. “These additional routes have positive impacts on the existing streets by providing drivers other options alleviating congestion on existing routes.”
