Orange detour signs and single-lane traffic were added to many ASU students' lists of first-day stresses Monday.
Widespread construction projects surrounding the Tempe campus caused early-morning and rush-hour hold ups for some who tried to get to their first classes.
"[My drive] was a little horrific," said Nesrine Rkein, rolling her eyes as she headed to class from Lot 59.
The sophomore education major dealt with a traffic accident and University Drive traffic to get to campus from Mesa, which turned her usual 20-minute drive into "like an hour and 10 minutes."
"It's really frustrating, especially on University [Drive]," she said. "There's always so much construction. It's so hard to get where you need to go."
A combination of light rail construction and utility relocation is bottlenecking traffic on several major roads around ASU, including University Drive, Apache Boulevard, Rural Road and Fifth Street.
Ethan Peck, a computer information systems junior, and Tyler Whitcomb, an undeclared junior, felt construction pains on a different route.
"Apache is still pretty bad, especially for bikes," Peck said, parking his motorcycle in Lot 15.
"Apache sucks," Whitcomb added.
Still, Peck said,
traffic "wasn't bad. [It was] pretty light."
Kreigh Warkentien, an undeclared sophomore who rode with a friend, said her commute was "OK," but she still felt the traffic crunch in her doubled commute time.
"It makes things a lot slower," she said. "This time last year it seems like it was a lot faster to get places."
Some students said their drives were largely unaffected by the construction.
"[The drive] was easy," said Justin McDougald, a business education freshman who lives in east Mesa.
He said his 15 to 20 minute drive was mostly untouched by the projects.
Dance and English literature sophomore Cassandra Kagiyama who lives southeast of campus said her drive was "a little bit easier than last year because of the way they split Lot 59."
Parking and Transit officials split Lot 59 this year into 59, 59 East - east of Rural Road - and 59 North - north of Rio Salado Parkway.
Kagiwama avoided driving on University Drive, which is normally easier, taking Rio Salado Parkway instead, she said.
Tempe spokeswoman Amanda Nelson said light rail construction is causing the road closures on Rural Road and Fifth Street.
"It will be backing off and then ramping back up at different areas at different times because of the different phases of construction," she said.
Nelson said the project would be completed at the end of 2008.
Sewer and water line work on University Drive and sewer work on Apache Boulevard led to lane closures on these streets, said Ron Coleman, Tempe water and sewer spokesman.
"The University [Drive] water line, that's being done specifically for the University. As a matter of fact, the University's paying for it," he said.
The other projects are intended to benefit both ASU and the city of Tempe.
"The University [Drive] sewer and the Apache [Boulevard] sewer are both relating to … capacity issues in and around ASU as the University continues to grow [and] as downtown Tempe continues to grow," he added.
The city will maintain a one-lane restriction on University Drive until the project is completed to maintain the safety of pedestrians and bikers, Coleman said, but will temporarily expand access during ASU's homecoming.
"As far as water and sewer, [the completion date] will be early next year," he said.
Coleman said work would stay localized to its current areas except for the intersection of Mill Avenue and University Drive.
"There will eventually be work in the actual intersection," he said. "If it goes as planned [work on the intersection] will be in September, and that will [last] six weeks."
With delays, the intersection work could be pushed back to spring or summer, he said.
"We will always maintain one lane thru-traffic in every direction," Coleman said.
Reach the reporter at James.Kindle@asu.edu.
