Business owners concerned about NW OKC road construction

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — Businesses along a metro road are preparing themselves for a traffic headache that will last through June.

Kyle Honeycut is the owner of American Elite Martial Arts near North Lincoln Boulevard.

Honeycut was surprised to hear that the City of Oklahoma City is planning to close the northbound lane of Lincoln Boulevard.

"I had no idea until you showed up and told me," said Honeycut. "The fact that they're closing the road, is terrible. Means all my customers pretty much are going to have to go around and add 10 minutes to their drive."

Honeycut said his gym has been in the area for years and traffic has been an ongoing issue.

"Normally traffic flow is pretty bad. So, it's already bad because of the plant, we get a lot of complaints."

The City of OKC said the road will be closed for utility work.

Another business owner who did not want to go on camera said he's already contacted the city of Edmond and asked them to keep the stoplight located at Lincoln and 33rd Street green for a longer period to help with the congestion.

Honeycut said the construction is going to force his customers to take a different route.

"They can flow around, but they have to go a mile out of their way and then come back off 33rd and come in," said Honeycut.

Honeycut said the road has been closed in the past due to water main breaks and other issues, but each time it becomes a nuisance.

"It's a nightmare and especially with the Purina plant, trucks are stacked up and doing all kinds of stuff, so it just makes it makes it tough to get here," said Honeycut.

The construction is anticipated to last through mid-June.