Main Street project update week of 4/12/21

Progress this Week of 4/12/2021:

On Monday, the 1st utility crew broke ground and began construction of the main line sanitary sewer starting at 2nd Avenue NW (by Wells Fargo), and by the end of the week will have made it the 3 blocks to Central Avenue. Their goal is to get ahead of the 2nd utility crew, scheduled to start on 4/19/2021. The contractor began removing some of the seasonal walk west of 2nd Avenue NW (2020 work area) in preparation of starting concrete flat work next week. This is the area where the temporary walking surface was installed last fall when the concrete work had to be suspended due to the early snow and cold temperatures. NOTE: Some temporary water service lines froze this week when temperatures dipped below freezing. If you are on temporary water, please note that if temperatures are forecasted to drop below freezing, you will need to follow the guidelines provided in flyers by the water department staff, which includes leaving a faucet running on a slow stream overnight to prevent your water line from freezing.

The Week of 4/19/2021:

The contractor will be moving in a 2nd utility crew to begin with the water main construction. The water main work will also begin at 2nd Avenue NW and progress easterly following up behind the sanitary sewer crew and with both crews heading east. The sanitary sewer main crew will continue east from Central Avenue and continue progressing east towards Columbus Avenue. Progress on the sanitary sewer installation will slow as the sanitary sewer main gets deeper towards Columbus Avenue. Additional removals will continue again at both ends of the work zone. First pavement and sidewalk removals are proposed to resume towards the east from 1st Avenue NE up to the west side of Columbus Avenue in order to stay ahead of the eastward progressing sanitary sewer crew. Columbus Avenue will remain open and be the primary crossing of Main Street for a while. On the west end of the project (last year’s work area between Hwy 21 and 2nd Avenue NW), the remaining temporary 2020 walking surface will be removed. Temporary matting will be placed to maintain pedestrian access until concrete is ready to be placed. Concrete placement is expected to begin on Wednesday after nighttime temperatures are forecasted to be above freezing. The concrete flat work is expected to be completed by the end of the month (weather and temperature dependent). Temporary water is proposed to be installed to the properties between 1st Street SE and Columbus Avenue.

The Week of 4/26/2021:

That sanitary sewer crew will continue their sanitary sewer work to the east. This work progression will continue to slow as the sanitary sewer reaches a depth of 20+ feet at Columbus Avenue. The water main crew will quickly catch up to the sanitary sewer crew and will switch over their operations to installing sewer and water services. The contractor is expecting to complete the sidewalk work at the west end of Main Street (2020 area), weather dependent.

More information and cool pics in the PDF attached.