The summer street construction season is winding down. The following is a synopsis of street projects in the city and where they stand, courtesy of Howard Crofoot, director of public works.
• Valley Road: We are doing full reconstruction of the street with replacement of water, sewer and storm sewer. The trees have been removed in preparation for excavating for a storm water pond. Water from as far away as Lutheran Street will be directed to this pond before discharge into the Rountree Branch. The street will be paved in concrete due to the high volume of trucks. Construction is expected to be finished by the end of October.
• Hathaway Street: This is also a full reconstruction of street, water, sewer and storm sewer. There is a small pond on the east side of the street to hold water during most storms to reduce the occurrence of street flooding. This also includes some re-grading and additional work in the swale behind the houses from Hathaway to the intersection of Camp and Eastman to make this drainage way flow better. This project is expected to be completed by the end of September.
• West Main Street: This includes full street reconstruction. There was a small area where water main needed to be replaced, but no sanitary sewer. This includes installation of curb and gutter with storm sewer all the way to the city limits. It includes realignment of the Western Avenue intersection to make greater visibility for traffic. It includes new sidewalk on the north side from College Drive to Western Avenue and on the south side from Western Avenue to Moonlight Drive. The street is paved and open to traffic. The remaining portion of the project will be completed in the next few weeks.
• East Mineral and Ann Street: This project will improve the drainage on East Mineral Street. It increases the size of the storm sewer and raises the sidewalk to keep storm water from going through the yards in most storms. This will tie into the work on Valley Road because there will be a swale to bring this storm water down the old railroad bed to the new pond being constructed by the Dog Park. This project should be completed in the next two weeks.
• Elm and Monroe Street: This is a full street reconstruction of Elm Street from Elmer to Ridge and on Monroe Street from Seventh to Elm. It was split into two phases to accommodate access to the senior village. The portion of Elm Street from Elmer to just south of Monroe Street is complete. The final portion of Elm Street and the Monroe Street work is in the second phase. All the water and sewer work is complete on this portion. They are working on the storm sewer before excavating the street. This project should be complete by the end of September.
• Westhill Avenue: This project was a full reconstruction with new curb and gutter. It included replacement of sanitary sewer on an easement between houses from Westhill to the intersection of Perry and West Main. With the curb and gutter, there was new storm sewer also placed on the street and in the easement area. This project is done except for minor cleanup items.
• North interceptor repairs: This project will replace and relocate the major sewer line for about 3,200 feet from College Drive along the stream bed toward the wastewater plant. It will upgrade the line and make other repairs to the stream bed. This project will begin in October and be complete by December.
• Northeast interceptor extension: This project will install new sanitary sewer line along the stream bed through the Clare property to Mitchell Hollow Road, through Moundview Park, across Broadway and up to the area of the new park land. It will serve future development and current houses along Broadway. It also extends new water main along Broadway from Madison to the intersection of Hazel Dell with a line up to the new park area to tie in with the lines on Fairfield Drive. It will start this fall and be complete in the spring of 2012.
• Sanitary sewer repairs at the intersection of Business 151 and Water Street. An old sewer line runs next to Dairy Queen. In order to accommodate expansion of the DQ, the city will upgrade the existing line, relocate it where we can and place it in a concrete casing where it will go under the DQ expansion. The DQ is paying for the concrete casing to facilitate their expansion. This project will take about one week in late September.
• Well 5 facility construction: The Water and Sewer Commission met Monday and awarded a contract for nearly $2.5 million to build a well house with office space and garage area to replace the capabilities of the Davison Plant on Valley Road in the near future. The project will begin this fall and be complete in summer of 2012.
• Industry Park storm water pond: There will be a storm water pond constructed in the southwest quadrant of Eastside Road and Evergreen Road. This is partially funded with an EDA grant. The project will begin this fall and should be complete by the end of November, except for minor landscaping work to be finished in spring 2012.
"Overall, projects have been going well and are generally on track for completion," said Crofoot.