MUSCATINE, Iowa – The Mulberry Avenue-2nd Street Roundabout Project remains on schedule or a little ahead of schedule thanks to a warmer and drier winter with underground work tentatively scheduled to be completed in the next two weeks.
The contractor anticipates completing pavement removal and starting work on grading during the second half of March. Pavement restoration is tentatively scheduled to begin in mid-April with the project wrapping up at the end of May depending on the weather.
Mulberry Avenue is currently closed from the #1 Alley to 3rd Street and 2nd Street is closed from Mulberry Avenue to Orange Street. Eastbound traffic on Mississippi Drive is detoured at Iowa Avenue to 5th Street to Park Avenue. The detour will remain in effect until the project is completed.
West Side Trail
Construction of the West Side Trail on Houser Street resumed March 2 with lane restrictions implemented on North Houser Street from Lucas to Allen Street. Additional lane restrictions will occur from Hershey to Lucas as work resumes to complete that section of the trail. All lane restrictions will be during working hours.
The final North Houser Street segment will be from Allen to Crossroads, Inc. Most of the trail should be completed by mid-summer, depending on the weather, with a short segment through the Arbor Commons subdivision the last to be completed.
West Hill Sewer Separation Phase 4C
Phase 4C of the West Hill Sanitary and Storm Sewer Separation Project (WHSSSSP) begins March 16 depending on the weather. The first stage of the Phase 4C will begin with milling of the pavement on Iowa Avenue from 8th to 9th Street and on 9th Street from Iowa Avenue to Chestnut Street.
Sewer separation and pavement restoration work will also be undertaken on Maiden Lane and Roscoe Avenue, Linn Street from 7th to 8th Street, and on 8th Street from Linn to Broadway. The detour for Phase 4C will be implemented once work begins on 8th Street with regular traffic detoured to 7th Street from Cedar to Broadway. The 7th Street detour will be modified once underground work reaches the Broadway intersection on 8th Street.
2nd Street Streetscape Project
A public information meeting on the 2nd Street Streetscape Project will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, at Musser Public Library. All residents, building owners, and business owners in the six-block long area of the project (Mulberry to Pine), along with any other interested individuals, are invited and encouraged to attend this meeting.
The 2nd Street Streetscape Project is comprised of sidewalk, roadway, utility, and streetscape construction on 2nd Street from Mulberry Avenue to Pine Street. Construction primarily includes pavement removal, excavation, concrete sidewalks, concrete roadway paving, underground utility improvements, concrete pavers, and streetscape amenities.
The Muscatine City Council awarded the $2.9 million contract for the 2nd Street Streetscape Project to KE Flatwork, Inc., of Elbridge, Iowa, at the February 6, 2020, City Council meeting. KE Flatwork, Inc., was the lowest of four bidders for the two-year project.
The work will be completed block by block in six stages over the two-year construction timeline to minimize the impact on businesses and residents. The contractor anticipates starting work in mid-April. Additional information can be found on the 2nd Street Streetscape Project page on the City of Muscatine website.
Park Avenue Three Lane Conversion Project
The Park Avenue Four-to-Three Lane Conversion Project is scheduled for the 2020 construction year. The project will convert Park Avenue from four-lanes to two with a center turn lane from Harrison Street to the Mad Creek bridge. A June 16, 2020, bid letting is planned with more details on the project released after that date. No detours are planned during the work but there will be lane restrictions.
Full Depth Patch Project
The final two sections of the 2019-2020 Full Depth Patch Project are located on Fulliam and will be completed after school is dismissed for the summer. The first section to be completed will be from Houser to Green Acre Drive followed by the section from Kindler to Devitt. Plans for the 2020-2021 Full Depth Patch Project are being developed and should go out for bid later this Spring.
Alley Asphalt Overlay Project
The 2019-2020 Alley Asphalt Overlay Project will begin once the asphalt plants reopen for the 2020 construction season. A total of 11 alley segments are on the list for asphalt overlay. The proposed alleys are: 400 block of Busch Street; Grover and Charles (New Hampshire to Hershey); Salvation Army at Oregon and Illinois (Earl to Baker); Bond and Bleeker (Grandview to Liberty); Iowa and Sycamore (East 9th to East 10th along with East 10th to East 11th); Taylor and Clinton (New Hampshire to Hershey); Hawthorne and Washington (Orchard to Park); Hagerman and Lorenz (Terrace H eights to Roscoe); 4th Street Park alley (Locust between 3rd and 4th streets); and Pine and Linn (3rd to 4th streets). Plans for the 2020-2021 Alley Asphalt Overlay Project and the 2020-2021 Street Asphalt Overlay Project are being developed and should go out for bid later this Spring.
Spring flooding
The Mississippi River is rising thanks to a slow but steady snowmelt in the Upper Mississippi Valley. The river is currently at 9.18 feet and forecasted to rise to 11 feet by March 12. The National Weather Service forecasts that peak snowmelt crests will likely occur into April with the week of April 13 having the greatest probability of surpassing moderate flood stage (18 feet) in Muscatine.
The National Weather Service will have their final Spring Flood Outlook presentation on March 12. The second Spring Flood Outlook presentation indicated that Muscatine still had a 95 percent chance of reaching major flood stage (20 feet) this spring but less than 40 percent chance of reaching the levels of a year ago.