BroadStProject

Update for September 8, 2010

The Broad Street Project encompasses the rebuilding and reconfiguration of

Broad Street from First to East Front streets. The reconfiguration involves adding medians and wider sidewalks, which will feature trees and landscaping elements to highlight the aesthetics of the street as it leads downtown.

As part of the Broad Street Project, numerous utility upgrades will be completed. The overhead electric, telephone, and cable tv lines will be converted to underground construction. Upgrades to the water, storm sewer, and sanitary sewer lines will be completed. New decorative-style street and pedestrian lighting will be installed during the final stages of the project.

At this point in the project all the electric infrastructure has been installed and is operational. The pedestrian lights and median lights have been installed, and the initial equipment troubleshooting has been completed. All the lights are operational. The sidewalk contactor has been grading and pouring the remaining sidewalk in the area from Front Street to Hancock and will be continuing this work until it is complete. The missing sidewalk areas from Hancock to First streets will be completed after the Hancock to Front Street area. The Electric and DPW crews have been working in coordination with the sidewalk contractor adjusting the height on the new underground vaults to match sidewalk grades. The DPW crews have installed provisions for festival power panels in the new sidewalks to facilitate power for Mum Fest and other events.

The tree pits have been framed out of the new sidewalk. The engineers are designing the concrete curbing necessary to facilitate the installation of frames and covers to match the cast iron covers used on the other streets in the downtown area. The pits have been filled with dirt and seeded to comply with the DOT erosion control requirements and also to alleviate any trip/fall hazards until the frames and covers are in place.

The trees for the sides of the street will be planted in the November and December timeframe. The median trees will be evaluated and replaced, if necessary, by the DOT at the same time.

The Water Resources Department will perform a video inspection of the storm sewer system to identify any damage or blockages caused by dirt and debris entering the system during the construction period. Any damage will be reported to the DOT for repair prior to the City’s acceptance of the street from DOT.

The repair of the paver bricks began on Tuesday, September 7. The contractor will repair the bricks at the corner of Middle and Broad Street and at Front and Broad Street as well as some smaller areas along the entire street.

Street signage will start within the next month. The DOT will place traffic signage along the street, and the City crews will install the street signs on the new placards located on the pedestrian lights.