MUSCATINE, Iowa – KE Flatwork has announced that reconstruction of 2nd Street from Mulberry to Mad Creek will begin on Monday, April 9. The work will be completed in four stages with a completion date of October 12. The dates are dependent on the weather.
While the entire section will not be closed drivers are asked to avoid the construction area and use East 5th Street or Washington Street to bypass the construction zone. KE Flatwork and the City of Muscatine have worked with HNI Corporation and other affected businesses on the traffic detour plan which will allow trucks access to the loading docks and customer’s access to businesses off of 2nd Street.
The Mulberry Avenue-2nd Street intersection is not part of this section of the MDCR Project. The intersection will be a roundabout with work currently underway on a final design. The project is expected to be ready for bidding this summer with the contract awarded in July 2018. Construction for the roundabout is expected to begin in August 2018 and tentatively scheduled to be completed by the end of November 2018 depending on the weather.
The first stage of the 2nd Street work will begin on April 9 when the Orange Street intersection and a short section of 2nd Street to the east and west of the intersection will be closed to traffic through May 9.
Work will then move to the Oak Street intersection and portions of 2nd Street to the west and east of the intersection. The second stage is tentatively scheduled for completion on Aug. 13.
Stage three work will be done in conjunction with stage two and include the section of 2nd Street from Oak to the Family Dollar store while also completing the section of 2nd from Orange to Oak. Stage three is tentatively scheduled for completion on Sept. 17.
The final stage will reconstruct 2nd Street from the Family Dollar store to the flood gate at Mad Creek. That work is expected to occur from Sept. 17 through Oct. 12.
City staff held a public information meeting for affected business owners for this section of the reconstruction at the new Musser Public Library and HNI Community Center last Thursday. The informational meeting was called to allow the business owners to hear the tentative schedule and comment on the traffic plan. City staff expects to hold monthly or bi-weekly meetings with the business owners throughout the 2018 construction season to provide updates on the project and discuss and concerns that businesses or the public have about the project.
MISSISSIPPI DRIVE CLOSED APRIL 16-27
The City has conducted similar meetings with business owners along Mississippi Drive and held one more session last Thursday to discuss the full closure of Mississippi Drive from April 16-27. KE Flatwork, Muscatine Power & Water, and the City worked together to minimize the time of the closure and to minimize the inconvenience to the business owners and their customers. The consensus was that all work can be completed during this two week period, weather permitting.
The intersections at Iowa Avenue and Chestnut Street along with the one block of Mississippi Drive from Iowa to Chestnut will remain open to traffic.
Mississippi Drive was reopened on Dec. 8 from Broadway to Iowa but some work was not completed due to the winter season and weather conditions. That work will be completed during this two-week closure which will be from Chestnut to Broadway. Access to the affected businesses east of Linn Street will again be from Pine Street, through the #1 alley to the Linn Street parking area.
Landscaping, seeding, and additional brickwork will be completed along with installing intersection markers and monuments in this section of Mississippi Drive. The City of Muscatine Department of Public Works will complete installation of street signs, and MPW will also complete work on the street lights and cabling during this time period.
City engineer Jim Edgmond told the business owners last Thursday that the closure was for the safety of the workers and not due to any reconfiguring of Mississippi Drive.
“We are not finished with this project and will continue to observe and monitor as we wrap up construction,” Edgmond said. “If there are items that need to be tweaked down the road, then we will make a list, discuss and prioritize these items, and see if or when these items can be resolved.”
Following the final clean-up and reopening of Mississippi Drive, MPW will be closing Linn Street from Mississippi Drive to the #1 alley for underground electrical work that will connect the underground cabling along Mississippi Drive with the substation.
PAVING TO START SOON FROM SYCAMORE TO MULBERRY
KE Flatwork said that the underground work from Sycamore Street to Mulberry Avenue will be completed this week and, if the weather permits, hauling in dirt to raise the street will begin soon. Paving is expected to begin at the end of April or in May starting at Sycamore Street and moving east, again weather permitting.
“We are ahead of schedule for this section of the reconstruction thanks to the ability to complete a lot of the underground work over the winter,” Bill Haag, project manager for the City of Muscatine, said. “However, this is the wet time of year and Mother Nature can be very unpredictable.”
The Mississippi Drive portion of the reconstruction project is expected to be completed by September 28.
ROUNDABOUT DESIGN PROGRESSING
Work on the final design for the roundabout at the Mulberry-2nd Street intersection is progressing. The tentative time schedule has the design presented to the Muscatine City Council in May, bidding for the project in June, awarded the project in July, and actual construction beginning in August.
This is the final section of the MDCR project with the entire project from Broadway to Mad Creek expected to be completed and open for traffic by the end of November 2018.
GRANDVIEW AVENUE REVITATLIZATION PROJECT
A second public meeting on the Grandview Avenue Revitalization Project could take place as early as June according to Edgmond. The exact time and place for the meeting has not been set as work continues in the design phase. Expect an announcement in May as to when and where the second public meeting will be held. The Grandview Avenue Revitalization Project is slated to begin in 2019.