Inconvenient, but not much else

CLOVIS — Motorists used to traveling across the Prince Street overpass connecting north Clovis to south Clovis have been inconvenienced for about two months now.

But officials say that's pretty much the extent of the problems caused by construction that's closed the overpass until next summer — inconvenience.

Even emergency responders say they're not seeing issues they hadn't planned for.

"It's something that we definitely planned for," Clovis Fire Battalion Chief Joel Gershon said.

Because Clovis has a fire station located south of the overpass, Gershon said any calls from that area would not ordinarily see any delay in most cases. "Where it does become a factor is in the second or third response," in the case of a large fire or car wreck, Gershon said.

With secondary and tertiary responses coming from fire stations located on Mitchell Street and Cesar Chavez Drive north of the railroad tracks, Gershon estimated those vehicles would be delayed around 90 seconds at the most.

Fortunately, he said, that estimate hasn't been tested as their have been no major structure fires or car accidents in the area since the construction began in August.

"We haven't really been tested as far as our response goes, but all of our guys know the situation and they know what route to take," Gershon said.

One concern could be a large accident or fire south of the tracks near Norris Street, where trains can back up traffic at the crossing.

But Gershon said response vehicles use the Hull Street overpass anyway, because of the train concerns.

From the Prince Street overpass, Norris is approximately one mile to the east. It's about three miles from Norris to Hull.

The greatest consternation voiced about the construction comes from residents who live north (or south) of the railroad tracks and work on the opposite side.

That would include employees and volunteers at The Food Bank of Eastern New Mexico. Many of them say they have to utilize the Norris Street crossing, which now has quite a bit more traffic without the Prince Street overpass available.

"With the extra traffic going on, sometimes it affects the truck and all of the employees trying to get across town and get back to the food bank," Executive Director Dianna Sprague said. "They just have to exercise some patience and wait sometimes.

Sprague said The Food Bank has not seen any delays in receiving food shipments, nor has she heard of any patrons who are now unable to access the facility, located at 2217 E. Brady, due to ongoing construction.

"We'll patiently wait it out. That's all we can do is be patient and let them do their work," Sprague said.

Clovis City Manager Justin Howalt said because railroad tracks run parallel of U.S. 60/70/84 throughout Clovis city limits, a new overpass would have to be built to improve north-south access.

The city has no plans to do that, Howalt said.