Piedras to close nights for work

A stretch of Piedras from Grant Ave to Montana St. will be closed nights for about a month as part of the city’s Five Points Quiet Zone project, meant to make the residential areas around Piedras quieter. The closures will begin Monday with the street being shut down from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m.

The city hopes the project will help bring noise levels down by changing railroad crossings so trains won’t have to blow their whistles as they pass between houses. Although this is the biggest closure so far, residents have been living with other closed roads in the area.

They say it’s not too bad if you look where you’re going.

“You can actually see what’s going on, so it’s not too hard to, you know, to stay away from the area for a little bit you know,” said area resident Brenda Enciso.

The work will go beyond railroad crossings. Old water lines running through Piedras will be replaced, something many are grateful for.

“It’s not so bad because they’re actually, you know they’re fixing the street which is really good for us,” said Enciso.

“If they need to be fixed let’s fix them, let’s not wait until we have a water break, said Raul Balderas, another resident.

The changes are expected to affect traffic, diverting it to nearby roads not usually taken.

“[The work has] closed a lot of streets, Birch and a lot of these, Elm, and it’s channeled a lot of traffic to Grant St.,” said Balderas.

People living in the area would like to remind our readers if you plan on taking Grant Ave to bypass the road work it is a one way street heading east.