Here is the latest update from the city engineer on the Parkway Drive/17th Avenue work.
The big news: The final surface asphalt will be laid late Wednesday and Thursday nights, so the project will be done in time to accomodate spillover traffic from Pennsylvania/Nicholson, which closes Tuesday for upwards of three months to accomodate the widening project.
Of course, please be patient during this work and consider alternate routes. I’ll keep you posted.
Filed under Construction, Transportation
Work on Parkway Drive and 17th Avenue will take a little longer than expected.
Here is the most recent update being mailed to area residents. Among the highlights:
Your patience is appreciated. I’ll keep you posted.
Filed under Transportation
The 17th Avenue and Parkway Drive construction project is nearing the home stretch.
Check out a letter updating area residents here. From it:
I’ll keep you posted on this project in coming weeks.
Don’t forget that this is just the first of two major Fourth District road projects this summer. The Pennsylvania/Nicholson Avenue widening project is expected to begin in July and continue into September.
Your patience is appreciated as the city continues to make necessary and overdue investments in its infrastructure.
Filed under Transportation
Spring is here … and that means it’s construction season.
As you probably know, a couple of the highest profile projects in 2012 are occurring in the 4th District. Here’s what’s happening at 17th Avenue/Parkway Drive and Nicholson Avenue.
I’ll keep you posted on both of these projects, and others, in coming weeks and months.
As always, we appreciate your patience. It’s no secret the city’s infrastructure is aging. These are significant investments to address that.
Filed under Construction
A quick update on what’s up with the sewer and road work planned for 17th Avenue and Parkway Drive …
The bulk of the project, initially set to begin this summer, will now be done next spring and completed by the end of June 2012.
You’ll recall that the project includes a variety of stormwater and sanitary sewer work, including installing and rerouting stormwater pipes in the 500 block of Parkway Drive, as well as the resurfacing of 17th Avenue from Rawson Avenue to Hemlock.
This document provides a good summary of the contemplated work and reasons for it.
Contracts for the stormwater and sanitary sewer work have been advertised and will be opened Nov. 22. Once a contractor is chosen, some off-street work and fabrication of structures needed for the work can be done over the winter. The sewer work is set for completion by May 25, according to the contract advertisement.
The roadwork will be advertised separately, with an estimated completion by the end of June — in time for Parkway and 17th to act as an alternate route during the Pennsylvania-Nicholson expansion project set to begin in July.
The delay was caused by extra review and design work necessary when the city decided to change the scope of the 17th Avenue roadwork and resurface all the way from Rawson to Hemlock, instead of the shorter length we were initially looking at.
I’ll keep you posted as this project progresses.
Filed under Transportation
City Engineer Kyle Vandercar has put together an informative summary of all the work that’s been done with city roads, sewers and other public works projects over the summer – and the plan for the remainder of the year.
Check it out here.
On the Parkway Drive/17th Avenue project, one that I’ve been asked more and more about in recent weeks:
Based on video inspection of storm and sanitary facilities completed in August, a significant amount of additional work needs to be included with the contract plans. We still intend to advertise a contract to construct storm and sanitary work this fall/early winter. Road work/paving will be a spring/early summer 2012 project.
I’ll keep you posted on this and other projects when possible.
And check out this update from Oak Creek Patch on the ongoing College Avenue reconstruction project.
Filed under Construction
The sewer studies are one step closer to reality.
The Common Council’s Public Works and Public Property Committee voted unanimously Monday night to recommend moving ahead with two separate studies of our sewer system, in light of the July flooding:
The full City Council will consider the studies at its meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.
The committee (in front of about 10 residents) had a good discussion about the scope of these studies, and everyone is anxious to get some answers here. These reports will certainly help.
As to the Parkway-area stormwater study, the study will focus on the area between Hemlock and Walnut streets and essentially be an extension of the 2008-09 study work done by R.A. Smith for the area west of Hemlock to 15th Avenue.
According to a memo from our city engineer: “There are numerous intersections that flooded during the July 22 storm, but this area has reported flooding during even minor storm events, and water from the street is ponding to a level where it is entering homes.”
Of course, this is not the only area of the city where this is occurring, and our engineering department continues to investigate and assemble information for other areas of significant flooding, including Blakewood Court and the intersection of 6th and Marion. Some of this analysis may be done internally, without the need for a formal third-party study.
Indeed, I have been impressed to hear about the ongoing work of our engineering and wastewater departments, who continue to do their own analysis of problem areas by going neighborhood to neighborhood, basement to basement in many cases, to learn more about specific issues faced by property owners.
In other flood-related news, new numbers from the city released Monday showed that 416 property owners have reported damage from water and sewer backups related to the July 22 storms, and the Street Department has picked up nearly 89 tons of flood-damaged debris since July 26.
Repair work in the 200 blocks of Hawthorne Avenue is “substantially completed,” with one lane opening soon.
Filed under 2010 Flooding
Update: Here is the link to the actual agenda. You’ll also note an item about condominium garbage pick-up — a discussion about if, and when, the city should pick up trash for condominium owners. We currently do for some and not for others, with factors like density and whether or not the development is on a public road driving our practice. A formal proposed policy will be discussed be on Tuesday.
It promises to be a busy City Council meeting on Tuesday.
Expected to top the agenda is consideration of two different studies aimed at getting to the bottom of what has caused ongoing flooding in several problem areas in the city, including the areas around Parkway Drive and Hemlock, Blakewood Court and Brookdale Court.
Two of the expected agenda items are:
The goal of both studies is the same — to see what can be done to limit future flooding problems like those in late July. I emphasize “limit,” as I’m not certain any potential solution, no mater the scope and cost, can completely prevent flooding, even basement backups, during certain record rain events like the one we experienced on July 22.
Still, these studies may provide some answers for residents desperately seeking, and deserving, them.
I and other city leaders are committed to keeping residents posted on this issue and what these studies find.
(In the meantime, here is a copy of a letter with more information on the flooding and next steps being sent this week to hundreds of residents who called to report damage, ask for special pickups, etc.)
The meeting start at 7 p.m. at City Hall. Among other items expected on Tuesday’s agenda are consideration of ordinances restricting “convenient cash establishments” and portable storage units like PODS. Click here to see my previous post on this.
Filed under City Council
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