MUSCATINE, Iowa – The milling of 7th Street from Cedar to Locust was completed earlier this week taking the top asphalt layer off the roadway and exposing the thousands of bricks underneath that made up the street at one time. The removal of the roadway from curb to curb begins on Monday at Cedar Street as KMA Excavating begins the sewer separation process.
No parking signs will be posted along the 200 block of East 7th Street on Friday with all vehicles required to be off the street by 7 a.m. Monday, Apr. 30. Additional signage of the street closure for that first block will also be put into place over the weekend. Closure notices and parking restrictions will be provided in advance as work progresses up the hill between Cedar and Locust.
Work on Phase 4A includes 7th Street from Cedar to Locust and the 700 blocks of Locust and Spruce. The separation work will be accomplished on a block-by-block basis throughout the summer and fall of 2018. Parking will be allowed on the portions of the street unaffected by the separation work until crews from KMA Excavating begin the sewer separation work in specific blocks.
Closing of the intersection at Sycamore and 7th may come at some time next week. Drivers should pay attention to signage and plan for alternate routes of travel when the closure occurs. There will also be a portion of the roadway near the intersection of Chestnut and 7th Street that will have restricted travel next week as a soft spot is repaired.
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.
KE Flatwork, Inc., of Elbridge, Iowa, was awarded the $6.1 million contract for Phase IV of the West Hill Sewer Separation Project at the April 5, 2018 Muscatine City Council meeting. The contract spans three years with work completed in three phases.
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 is expected to reopen for traffic at the close of business on Saturday (April 28). Final landscaping is underway and should be completed in the next two days with final cleanup of the roadway beginning Friday and all work completed by Saturday.
JNL Landscaping has been placing sod and seeding between Pine Street and Broadway while Heritage Landscaping is completing plantings and stone setting work from Chestnut to Broadway. The monument at the Pine Street intersection is nearing completion and the bases for the street signs are ready for the signs to arrive. Video surveillance and cleaning of the sewer system along Mississippi Drive is also nearly complete.
There may be times within the next two weeks that there will be restricted travel as the landscaping material is watered and additional signage is placed along the right-of-way.
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)
KE Flatwork, Inc., has been prepping the roadway from Sycamore to Mulberry for paving bringing in tons of dirt from the Fridley Theatre stockpile to raise the street significantly. Paving is expected to begin on May 7, weather permitting, progressing from Sycamore towards Mulberry. Already an 18-inch reinforced section of concrete has been poured over the Papoose Creek tunnel at the Sycamore Street intersection.
Final work on the duct bank from Walnut to Mulberry should be completed next week before the final prepping of that block for paving.
2ND STREET RECONSTRUCTION
The old concrete pavement on 2nd Street from Orange to Oak has been removed with KMA Excavating completing sanitary sewer work and started on the storm sewer. That work should be completed next week. Prepping the Orange Street intersection and this section of 2nd Street for paving will begin after that. 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). This section may not begin until May 14 as KE Flatwork, Inc., is waiting on a crew to arrive that will bore underneath the railroad crossing. It is hoped that the Oak Street intersection work can be completed and the intersection reopened with minimal inconvenience to business and drivers.
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 reached 90 percent but negotiations are still underway for two properties needed for the roundabout. If negotiations break down this year, the project will likely be postponed until the 2019 construction season.
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.
POSSIBLE PROJECTS FOR 2019
Along with the start of the Grandview Avenue Revitalization Project, two other street projects are tentatively on the docket for the 2019 construction season including the mini roundabout at Houser and Fulliam, and reducing Park Avenue from Harrison Street to Mad Creek from four lanes to two lanes with a center turn lane. These are two projects that the City of Muscatine received a state grant to complete with engineering of the projects currently underway.