WACO, Texas – The City of Waco decided to put a pause on the Franklin Avenue project as they wait to see other construction projects progress.

The Franklin Avenue project recommends the street convert from traffic going one-way to two-ways. Public Works Director Amy Burlarley-Hyland presented Tuesday in front of the Waco City Council members an informal report on the current construction plan.

“Recommending that we delay the Franklin Avenue project by a couple of years just to see the impact is on our current construction downtown,” Burlarley- Hyland says.

The City of Waco already has multiple construction projects in the works.

“We have 5th Street under construction, University Parks as well, and plans to do 4th Street,” says Burlarley-Hyland.

Even though the construction sounds like a hassle, the city wants to make sure they have the best interest of everyone in the community.

“So we want to give all those projects a chance to be completed and see where traffic is going to even out in the end,” says Burlarley-Hyland.

They hope this delay will give them more time to see how people commute.

“What routes they’re going to commute, if they’re going to go back to their old routes they used before, or if they found new travel patterns,” says Burlarley-Hyland.

When they do continue the Franklin Avenue project, drivers won’t be the only ones seeing a difference.

“We will probably do quite a few pedestrian improvements, and we’ll do things like curb ramps for handicap accessibility,” says Burlarley- Hyland.

Burlarley-Hyland says she believes people will be relieved to hear the project has been delayed.

“Because this just means one more big downtown project that they have to find a way to travel around, when we have these other roads under construction at the same time,” says Burlarley-Hyland.