Webster City business owners and residents had the opportunity to learn more about the city’s 2020 Second Street Reconstruction Project and to voice their concerns at a public informational meeting Thursday evening at City Hall.
The construction project will affect nine blocks along Second Street from the railroad overpass bridge to Prospect Street, said City Manager D. Jeffrey Sheridan.
The City Council has not yet officially approved the project, but if it passes, Sheridan said the city can expect to be receiving bids from construction firms by the end of this year.
Once approved, the project is estimated to cost $9.1 million, which will cover the installation of new drainage, the replacement of existing water lines and sewer lines, as well as the ground-level construction like new asphalt.
“It is absolutely a lot of money, but it is the most cost-effective way to make the repairs,” Sheridan said. “Nothing makes local government look more foolish than when you spend a lot of money on fixing the road and then a month later, the utilities cut across it to put in a new line. The sport way is to do it all at one time, to fix everything that needs fixed. Unfortunately, that’s the more expensive way – fixing everything all in one fell swoop.”
If approved and the bid process goes as expected, Sheridan said the construction will begin in the spring of 2020. It will last “two construction seasons,” he said, wrapping up in 2021.
The project will be completed in sections, with the plan to keep one lane on Second Street open at all times.
Doug Getter, a Webster City resident and former mayor, attended Thursday night’s meeting. He said this update to Second Street has been a priority of his for a long time.
“It’s vital that businesses and homeowners continue to have access while this is going on,” he said about the construction.
Access to properties along Second Street is why Webster City resident Diane Hanson attended the meeting. Hanson has lived in her house on Second Street since she was in elementary school and is concerned about street access to her home during the construction.
“We only have access to getting into our yard by Second Street and I wanted to know how we’re going to get in and out under construction,” she said.
Hanson was able to voice her concerns and ask her questions to city officials and personnel from Snyder and Associates, the project consultant.
“They’re aware of our concerns and they’re going to do some checking into it to see what they can do to help us try and figure out how to get in and out,” Hanson said.
View this article as it originally appeared in the Daily Freeman-Journal.
Last modified: September 13, 2019