Electrical lines come down along Mississippi Drive
Muscatine Power & Water was set to begin the process of taking down some of the electrical lines on Mississippi Drive from Broadway to Mulberry Avenue starting on Monday, Nov. 18.
The removal of the electrical lines is part of the Mississippi Drive Corridor Reconstruction Project that will eventually remove all above ground lines and power poles from Broadway to Mulberry on the river side of Mississippi Drive. Most of the lines and poles will be removed after the roundabout at 2nd Street and Mulberry Avenue is completed.
Work will be conducted from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the end of the month. Flaggers will be stationed to hold traffic and alternate traffic through the north side lane of Mississippi Drive as work progresses.
A truck detour will be established starting at the end of the bridge and going around town using the U.S. 61 By-pass.
Drivers can expect delays and traffic backups in the work areas. The east bound lane of Mississippi Drive will not be closed during the work but traffic will be rerouted in the areas where work is being done. Drivers are urged to use alternate routes and be patient while driving through work areas.
West Hill sewer separation project
Pavement restoration of Chestnut, Pine, Fuller, and most of 8th Street has been completed with driveways, alleyways, sidewalks, and a temporary connection on 8th Street to the Linn Street intersection yet to be completed. KE Flatwork, Inc., will be backfilling and preparing to complete the remaining pours of concrete as the weather moderates later this week.
Phase 4B is part of a $2.4 million three-year contract with KE Flatwork, Inc., that separates the storm and sanitary sewers, installs new water main lines, and restores the pavement. Phase 4B work is to be substantially completed by November 22, 2019.
Phase 4C will be completed during the 2020 construction season.
Full depth patch project wraps up
The 2019-2020 Full Depth Patching Project has completed work in four of the five sections scheduled under the $919,875 contract awarded Heuer Construction on July 15, 2019. Work was completed last week on University Drive from Highway 61 and Highway 22 and Lake Park Boulevard from Park Avenue to 2nd Avenue to complete, with all lanes now open to traffic. Work on North Houser Street and on South Houser Street from Musser to Grandview was completed earlier this year. Remaining for the spring will be Fulliam Avenue from Kindler to Devitt and Fulliam Avenue from Houser to Green Acres.
Alley asphalt overlay project
Taylor Ridge Paving & Construction was awarded the $96,799.10 contract by the Muscatine City Council on October 3, 2019, for the revised Alley Asphalt Overlay Project. The project was delayed after the first round of bids were rejected due to a technicality requiring a second round of bid requests. The project will not begin until the spring of 2020 after the asphalt plants open since there was not enough time for the contractor to mobilize before the plants shut down for the winter. The contract has an end date of June 30, 2020.
Six alleys are in the revised list including the #9 alley and #10 alley between Iowa and Sycamore, the alley behind the 400 block of Busch Street south of Lucas Street, alley from Grover to Charles between New Hampshire and Hershey, alley from Bond to Bleeker between Grandview and Liberty, and the alley from Earl to Baker between Oregon and Illinois.
West Side Trail project
Heuer Construction was awarded the $1.2 million contract to construct 1.26 miles of paved pedestrian and bike trail on the west side of Houser Street that will connect the Kent Stein trailhead with Discovery Park. Construction is underway starting at the Houser Street Athletic Field Expansion and working north towards Lucas Street. Enright Seeding has installed silt fence along the length of the project with topsoil removal set to begin this week.
2nd and Mulberry roundabout
Construction of the roundabout at the intersection of 2nd Street and Mulberry Avenue, part of the Mississippi Drive Corridor Revitalization Project, will begin in January 2020. The Muscatine City Council awarded the $2.1 million contract to Heuer Construction on August 15, 2019. One of the two buildings has been removed to make room for the roundabout with the second building expected to be demolished later in November.
Project managers for the City of Muscatine will conduct meetings with all business owners along the 2nd Street corridor from Oak to Pine before and during the construction process. The construction work will be completed in stages to keep any disruption to downtown business at a minimum.
Updates on the work will be available on the City of Muscatine web site (www.muscatineiowa.gov/construction) and on the City of Muscatine social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram).
