If you’ve been white-knuckling it through the SW Lee Boulevard construction zone, here’s a bit of good news mixed with a heads-up. The City of Lawton is flipping the script this week as work moves into its next phase—and that means lanes are opening up in one direction while closing down in another.

 

Starting Tuesday, July 7, westbound traffic on SW Lee Boulevard between SW 52nd Street and SW 38th Street will reopen. That’s the good part. But come Wednesday, July 8, eastbound lanes will shut down to through traffic as crews push forward with the roadway improvements. It’s a bit like a construction-era game of musical chairs, except with your commute.

Here’s what helps: the main entrance to Great Plains Technology Center stays open throughout the transition, so students and staff heading that direction won’t hit a total dead end. Westbound drivers can also tap into Park Ridge Boulevard as an alternate route to access the campus. City officials are banking on these workarounds to keep things flowing while they tackle what they’re calling part of their broader effort to improve roadway infrastructure across Lawton.

The message from City Hall is simple: be patient, plan ahead, and remember this isn’t forever. But if you’re someone who takes SW Lee Boulevard regularly, it might be worth mapping out your alternate route now rather than discovering it on the fly Wednesday morning.