MUSCATINE, Iowa – Phase IV of the West Hill Sewer Separation Project begins on Monday, April 23, with milling off of the asphalt street surface on 7th Street from Cedar to Locust. No parking signs will be posted along the seven blocks affected by the milling process which should take one to two days depending on the weather.
The street will not be closed during the milling process but drivers should expect delays and/or temporary closures as the milling machine moves from block to block. Drivers are also urged to use caution and slowdown or find an alternate route of travel.
KE Flatwork, Inc., of Elbridge, Iowa, was awarded the $6.1 million contract at the April 5, 2018 Muscatine City Council meeting. The contract spans three years with work completed in three phases.
Work on Phase 4A includes 7th Street from Cedar to Locust and the 700 blocks of Locust and Spruce. Once the milling has been completed, parking will be allowed on the street until crews from KE Flatwork, Inc., and KMA Excavating begin the sewer work which is expected to begin the first week of May.
The work will be accomplished on a block-by-block basis throughout the summer and fall of 2018. The first segment will be between Cedar and Sycamore. No public access will be allowed into active construction areas. Advanced notice of further street closures will be provided as work progresses up the hill between Cedar and Locust.
The contractor and project managers for the City of Muscatine will attempt to restore each block to useable condition as soon as practical after the sewer work has been completed until the street pavement is replaced. Pavement replacement will require the poured sections to be closed for at least a week as the concrete cures.
The project not only features separating the two sewer systems but also features new curb to curb pavement for the affected sections of the street along with some new sidewalk and courtesy sidewalks.
Phase 4A is expected to be completed by November 30, 2018.
Phase 4B will be completed in 2019 and include 8th Street from Cedar to Linn, the 700 blocks of Pine, Chestnut, Iowa, and Sycamore, and the 800 block of Fuller Street. Phase 4C will be completed in 2020 and include the 800 block of Iowa, the 100 block of West 9th, 700 block of Linn, 800 block of Roscoe, and the 400 block of Maiden Lane.
To learn more about combined sewer overflows and why Muscatine is separating the storm and sanitary sewer systems, read this article from February 23, 2018 in one of the previews for the Local Option Sales Tax authorization vote last March. To learn more about the West Hill Sewer Separation Project, read this article from February 21, 2018, in one of the previews for the Local Option Sales Tax authorization vote last March.
With the completion of Phase III the West Hill Sewer Separation Project is 34 percent complete with $14.2 million spent (and paid for through local option sales tax funds) over the first nine years. Two-thirds of the project has yet to be completed with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consent order deadline of 2028 still in the distance. The $14.2 million already spent is just a shadow of the estimated $32.1 million it will take to complete the final three phases.
The completion of Phase IV will push the project past the half-way mark (51 percent complete). Phase V (planned for 2020-2022) will add another 13 percent to the completion total (or 64 percent) which leaves the remaining 36 percent to be completed in Phase VI (planned for 2022-2028).
MISSISSIPPI DRIVE (Chestnut to Broadway)
Mississippi Drive from Chestnut to Broadway remains closed to traffic as KE Flatwork, Inc., Muscatine Power & Water (MPW), and crews from the City of Muscatine Department of Public Works complete a variety of projects in the substantially finished portion of the Mississippi Drive Corridor Reconstruction Project (MDCRP). Period street lighting is being put into place by MPW while city crews are adjusting street signs. Landscaping, seeding, and additional brickwork is also being completed along with installation of intersection markers and monuments during this two-week road closure.
This section of Mississippi Drive is anticipated to be reopened at the close of business on Friday, April 27, but that is dependent on the weather.
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.
MISSISSIPPI DRIVE (Iowa to Mulberry)
KMA has substantially finished underground work on the second of Mississippi Drive from Sycamore to Mulberry and that has allowed KE Flatwork, Inc., to begin prepping the roadway for paving. Already an 18-inch reinforced section of concrete has been poured over the Papoose Creek tunnel at the Sycamore Street intersection and KE Flatwork has begun hauling in dirt to increase the height of the roadbed. Once the roadway has been prepped, paving will begin at the Sycamore Street intersection and proceed east as weather permits.
2ND STREET RECONSTRUCTION
Reconstruction of 2nd Street began on April 9 on the section that includes 2nd Street from the Orange Street intersection to the Oak Street intersection. This first stage is anticipated to be completed by May 9, depending on the weather.
The second stage will reconstruct the Oak Street intersection to the railroad crossing (May 9-Aug. 13), and 2nd Street from the railroad crossing to the entrance of the Family Dollar store (May 9-Sept. 17). The third stage of the reconstruction will take place from Family Dollar to Mad Creek (Sept. 17-Oct. 12). The fourth stage will complete the reconstruction of the Orange Street intersection (Sept. 17-Oct. 12).
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, awarding 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. The exact time and place for the meeting has not been set as work continues in the design phase. An announcement could be made 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.
ADDITIONAL STORIES THIS WEEK
April 19-26 – Sewer repair work on West 4th Street. READ MORE.
April 17-19 – Water line repair on East 8 th Street. READ MORE.
April 24 – Meeting on reopening Whicher Street. READ MORE.