Street work in progress

Activity has started on the street work that was approved in the November 2018 bond election.

Seven of the streets will be funded using the $1 million of the $4 million bond issue for street work—Alexander, Copenhavr, Evans, Gould, Dallas, Broad and Fairlane—and an eighth street—Anna—is supposed to be funded using a grant that is being facilitated by GrantWorks.

“These were designated as the eight worst streets in Pilot Point,” Capital Projects Manager Matt Kaminski said.

Pilot Point Mayor Shea Dane-Patterson also said that.

“When we were preparing for the bond, the proposition for the bond, we had the staff document and designate which streets need the most work, and then we mapped all those out, and we wanted to do long stretches and try to group them within a certain dollar amount,” she said.

Crews took to the streets Nov. 13 from 03 Concrete out of Howe, the contractor for the bond projects after a delayed start.

“They’ve been hampered by the weather a little bit,” he said.

That was the only firm to bid for the Anna Street project in the first round of bids, which came in overbudget, so the council chose to bid the Anna Street project again.

Kaminski said it is possible and probable that 03 Concrete could be the only bidder again or that it might be the lowest bid because the company is already mobilized in Pilot Point for the other project.

“When that bid was placed, which was in October, to now, construction costs have already gone up, and that process will probably continue to go up as we go further into the year,” he said.

Construction shouldn’t shut down any of the streets completely, Kaminski said.

“All of the roads will be open to all traffic while they’re doing it,” he said. “So, it might be down to one-lane type road in that area where they’re working, but they will be opened.”

Cold weather is not the ideal condition for curing concrete, but it’s still possible.

“Concrete will still cure in cold; it just takes longer,” Kaminski said. “That’s the big thing. The only thing that I’m concerned about is the rain events. Typically in winter we get a little bit more rain, and that will slow the process.”

The work on each street will start with the incidentals, which means things like drain culverts and drive approaches.

The majority of the streets, with the exception of Fairlane Drive, are concentrated in the north-northwest portion of the city.

Fairlane Drive will be the last street of the seven funded by the bond issue because it has the highest number of incidentals to install, Kaminski said.

On Alexander Street, the main issue is that the base rock under that street “completely failed,” Kaminski said.

“We are more concerned about, honestly, the drainage and the actual road base itself,” Kaminski said. “The base rock failing on a road, you can’t have that, because you’re always going to be filling potholes.”

For all of the roads, the plan is to “pave it as one section” to help streamline the construction.

Residents should get notifications through a variety of methods, Kaminski said. Emails targeted through the city’s water billing system, notifications on the city’s Facebook page and possibly even doorhangers were planned to be used for specific residents.

There is a 240-day timeline that started Nov. 13 for the seven streets to be completed.

Kaminski had only one request of the residents.

“Just to be patient; that is the No. 1 thing,” he said. “Anytime we have growth, this type of growth, people need to be patient.”

That includes about getting their own street repaired.

“That is in the process as well,” Kaminski said. “There’s going to be another evaluation for roads. It’s a slow process.”