MUSCATINE, Iowa – West 8th Street will be open for traffic in time for the Thanksgiving holiday according to City of Muscatine project managers. Phase 4B of the West Hill Sanitary and Storm Sewer Separation Project has kept the majority of 8th Street from Cedar to Linn closed since later March, but the project reached the substantial completion stage on Friday (Nov. 22).
The last major concrete pour of Phase 4B was completed Thursday as KE Flatwork, Inc., put in temporary pavement from the end of the Phase 4B pavement restoration on 8th Street to the Linn Street intersection. The temporary pavement will be taken up and replaced as part of Phase 4C which will begin in March 2020.
KE Flatwork was also finishing three courtesy sidewalks, one section of sidewalk on 8th Street, and backfilling before starting cleanup operations early next week. The City plans to use the street sweeper on the section from Iowa to Linn late Tuesday or early Wednesday before the street is opened to traffic Wednesday afternoon.
While the street will be open, there may be some lane restrictions as KE Flatwork, Inc., and KMA Excavating complete punch list items to wrap up the project. Advance notice will be provided when those lane restrictions are put in place.
When 8th Street is opened, the detour to 7th Street will end, at least until the start of Phase 4C next March. Drivers are still urged to slow down and use caution as these are residential areas and some construction activity may still occur.
Phase 4C of the West Hill Sanitary and Storm Sewer Separation Project will begin in March 2020 and will close 8th Street from just west of Roscoe Avenue to just east of Broadway Street. A public meeting on Phase 4C will be held in late February or early March.
WEST SIDE TRAIL
Work on the 1.26 mile West Side Trail is underway with Heuer Construction completing the removal of topsoil from the American Legion to Lucas Street, placing rock on the trail, and beginning to pour concrete and construct retaining walls. Work has also started on the storm sewer system on North Houser Street north of Lucas and on the trail from Lucas toward the Arbor Commons development.
Drivers can expect the lane restrictions, weather permitting, as Heuer Construction works to complete the first section of the West Side Trail from the American Legion to Lucas Street before the winter shutdown.
Please slow down and use caution when travelling through this area.
GRANDVIEW AVENUE RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT
Project managers for the City of Muscatine have tentatively set a public meeting on the upcoming Grandview Avenue Reconstruction Project for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 17, 2019, at the Water and Resource Recovery Facility at 1202 Musser Street. The two-year project is set to begin in April 2020.
TRAFFIC DELAYS ON MISSISSIPPI DRIVE
Muscatine Power & Water (MPW) continues the process of removing overhead electrical lines from Broadway to Mulberry Avenue along Mississippi Drive with flaggers in place to move traffic around the work areas. Work is expected to last through the end of November.
The entire length of the east bound lane on Mississippi Drive will not be shut down during this work, only the area where the work is occurring.
Flaggers will be used to alternate traffic from 8 a.m.to 4 p.m. as work is conducted block by block. Traffic in the eastbound lane (river side lane) of Mississippi Drive will be diverted into the westbound lane by flaggers stationed at each end of the block who will hold and alternate traffic through the work area.
A truck detour will be established starting at the end of the bridge and going around town using the U.S. 61 By-pass.
The removal of the electrical lines is part of the Mississippi Drive Corridor Reconstruction Project that will eventually remove all above ground electrical lines and power poles from Broadway to Mulberry on the river side of Mississippi Drive. Most of the lines and poles will be removed after the roundabout at 2nd Street and Mulberry Avenue is completed.
Drivers are urged to use alternate routes and be patient while driving through work areas.
2ND & MULBERRY ROUNDABOUT
Work on the roundabout at the intersection of 2nd Street and Mulberry Avenue is set to begin in January 2020, depending on the weather. Early underground work will include the installation of an electrical duct bank from the #1 alley to Orange Street that will allow the removal of the power lines and poles along Mississippi Drive. Underground work will also include a new storm sewer before pavement removal and restoration begins.