'Controlled chaos' to begin after Thanksgiving with construction on Litchfield Square roundabout

Major construction is set to start on Litchfield Road after the Thanksgiving holiday when workers begin the first of three planned roundabouts — part of the city’s long-awaited Litchfield Square development project. 

“The chaos will start” Nov. 29, “but it will be controlled chaos,” said Woody Scoutten, city engineer and project manager of Litchfield Square, formerly marketed as City Center. 

Drivers will not be allowed to make a left turn in or out of Village Parkway during construction. The right lane will remain accessible. Neighboring homeowners associations have been made aware of the construction and have been provided with available detours to give to residents, Scoutten said.

Previous plans from the city indicated roundabout construction would begin sooner in the month, around Nov.11.  

There have been some snags in the project since ground officially broke in September.

Currently, the city of Litchfield Park is pushing utility company APS to finalize its own plans to allow construction to move forward. 

“We continue to push APS to get their plans done,” Scoutten said at a city council meeting on Tuesday. “Right now they are the critical path for our project. In fact, right now, it’s actually holding up the project a little bit,” he said, adding that the city is in talks with representatives from APS to resolve the issue.