Thursday, September 16th, 2021
City plans to resurface 10 miles
By William Kincaid
CELINA - City officials plan to resurface nearly 10 miles of city streets in 2022 at an estimated cost of $2.95 million. If the plan is carried out in full, it would amount to nearly three times the miles of streets resurfaced this summer.
City councilors at their regular meeting this week gave first reading of a resolution authorizing city safety service director Tom Hitchcock to advertise, receive bids and enter into an agreement for the project.
The city would pay for the project with local dollars from the 0.5% additional income tax levy for fire, police and streets. The levy has helped finance millions of dollars in street improvements and will expire at the end of 2022, said mayor Jeff Hazel.
City officials aim to resurface 9.67 miles of residential streets. However, Hazel said the bid amounts will ultimately determine how many miles of roads the city resurfaces next year. If the bids come in above $2.95 million, some of the proposed work may be removed from the 2022 project.
Asked by councilman Mike Sovinski how the streets were selected for the project, Hitchcock replied that city administrators sought out streets that had firm underlying infrastructure.
"Sycamore is a horrible street, but we don't want to pave over a bad water line," Hitchcock said. "We would like to get water lines replaced before we pave over some streets."
Hazel elaborated on the city's approach to repairing streets.
"You don't put a new patch on an old wineskin," he said, noting from the start of his mayorship of roughly nine years he stressed the importance of establishing strong infrastructure and a solid base before resurfacing.
"One of the most disheartening things for any community to go through is if you pave this beautiful street and a week later you have a water main break and you're cutting into it," Hazel said. "That happened quite a bit more. But over the last not quite 10 years now, we have reduced water main breaks in the city by like 95% and it's because we're fixing infrastructure."
Sovinski said some residents may question why some streets are set for resurfacing when other, much older streets have yet to be addressed.
"Do we have an issue with our design standards or anything that our newer streets may not beg holding up as much as our older streets?" he asked.
Hitchcock replied that the only newer streets being looked at for resurfacing next year are those in the Wheatland Acres subdivision. Those streets were damaged from heavy construction traffic following the Memorial Day 2019 tornado that caused significant property damage.
The following streets are eyed for resurfacing next year - Ash Street from Wayne Street to Market Street; Briar Lane from Holly Street to dead end; Britney Drive from Fleck Avenue to dead end; Brook Avenue from Fleck Avenue to dead end; Bruns Avenue from Frahm Pike to concrete section; Cedar Street from Rosewood Drive to Briar Lane; Chicory Court from Meadowview Drive to dead end; Clover Lane from Holly Street to Myers Road; Fayette Street from Morton Street to Elm Street; Fleck Avenue from Frahm Pike to Brittney Drive; Golfview Drive from Wayne Street to dead end; Heirholzer Street from Brandon Avenue to concrete section; Holly Street from Johnson Avenue to Meadowview Drive; Industrial Drive from Grand Lake Road to Havemann Road; Jay Street from Logan Street to South Street; Jessica Lane from Fairground Road to dead end; Kensington Lane from concrete section to dead end; Lake Shore Drive from Main Street to Market Street; and Larkspur Lane from Meadowview Drive to Mockingbird Lane.
Also, Leona Street from Main Street to Orchard Street; Market Street from Riley Street to Mercer Landmark; Meadowview Drive from Wayne Street to Mockingbird Lane; Michael Avenue from Bruns Avenue to concrete section; Mockingbird Lane from Kensington Lane to dead end; Morton Street from Logan Street; Murlin Street from South Street to dead end; Myers Road from Main Street to Wayne Street; Oak Street from Orchard Street to Walnut Street; Orchard Street from Summit Street to Leona Street; Pennyroyal Lane from Meadowview Drive to Mockingbird Lane; Plum Street from Logan Street to South Street; Rosewood Drive from Holly Street to Myers Road; Schunck Road from Main Street to west corporation line; Sugar Street from Touvelle Street to Summit Street; Summit Street from Main Street to Touvelle Street, Sycamore Street from Echo Street to Vining Avenue; Teaberry Lane from Meadowview Drive to Mockingbird Lane; Warren Street from Morton Street to Brandon Avenue; and Warrick Drive from Wayne Street to Industrial Drive
The Shelly Co. this summer completed the city's $1.5 million 2021 residential street program that resulted in the resurfacing of nearly 3 miles of streets in all four wards.
