University Avenue closes at 9th Street for sewer main replacement

University Avenue closed through the 9th Street intersection as Oxford crews kept working to replace a sewer main, cutting off a busy stretch between 11th Street and 9th Street and sending traffic onto two detour routes. The city directed drivers to use 5th Street to Van Buren Avenue or South Lamar Boulevard to Jackson Avenue while the work zone remained active.

The closure took effect Tuesday, July 12, after the City of Oxford updated its Road Work page on July 11. The notice put one of Oxford’s main east-west corridors out of service at a point that affects campus access, neighborhood trips and commercial traffic moving through the heart of town. University Avenue carries commuters, students, shoppers and service vehicles, so the shutdown pushed more cars onto nearby streets and intersections already handling summer traffic.

The sewer main replacement came on top of other road work already underway in Oxford. The same Road Work page said multiple lane closures tied to paving began Tuesday, July 5, adding another layer of disruption for anyone trying to cross town. The city has also posted separate notices this spring and summer for sewer repair at 1629 Garfield Avenue, crosswalk construction on South Lamar Boulevard from University Avenue to Tyler Avenue, University Avenue Bridge Work, Highway 7 and University Avenue ramp closures, and University Avenue at Highway 6 beginning May 28.

That backlog of projects matters for more than drivers trying to avoid delays. Businesses along University Avenue and nearby side streets can expect less drive-by traffic while the closure lasts, and deliveries may have to be rerouted around the blocked intersection. Students heading toward the University of Mississippi campus, downtown workers and shoppers headed to the corridor’s restaurants and stores all have to build in extra time and choose alternate routes before they reach the bottleneck.

John Crawley, P.E., is listed as city engineer on multiple Oxford road-closure pages, the contact point for several of the city’s active traffic notices. The overlapping work also comes as the Mississippi Department of Transportation has maintained other traffic alerts in the region, including a temporary closure on I-55 southbound in DeSoto County and a Lafayette County bridge closure advisory on S. Lamar Blvd.

For Oxford, the University Avenue shutdown was less a routine roadwork update than another sign that summer construction was stacking up across town, with the city asking drivers, businesses and campus traffic to work around a corridor that could not stay open during sewer replacement.