MUSCATINE, Iowa – The milling of select city streets and alleys is nearly complete and paving should begin next week according to Public Works officials. The milling and paving is part of the current asphalt street and alley overlay projects.
Five other projects are also underway in Muscatine including the Park Avenue 4-to-3 Lane Conversion Project, 2nd Street Streetscape Project, Full Depth Patching Project, Grandview Avenue Reconstruction Project, and Phase V of the West Hill Sanitary and Storm Sewer Separation Project.
Two streets remain to be milled by Manatt’s, Inc., as part of the Asphalt Overlay Project with work currently underway on Houser Street from Cedar to Mulberry.
Drivers are urged to slow down, use caution when driving through construction areas, and obey traffic control devices as machinery and workers may be present. Drivers are also urged to find alternative routes, if possible.
Nine alleys and nine street segments are part of the 2020-2021 project with Washington Street from Walters to Cypress the final segment to be milled. The laying down of new asphalt will begin next week with the Houser Street segment scheduled first. All work is expected to be completed by June 2, weather permitting.
Segments to be milled and paved:
- Overlay #1 Cypress St: East 2″d St. to Alley
- Overlay #2 Washington St: Cypress St. to Walters
- Overlay #3 Busch St: Hershey Ave. to Mill St.
- Overlay #4 Houser St: Cedar St. to Karen Dr.
- Overlay #5 Houser St: Karen Dr. to Mullberry Ave.
- Overlay #6 Indiana St: Schley Ave. to Benham Ave.
- Overlay #7 Benham Ave: Indiana St. to Wisconsin St.
- Overlay #8 James Place: Parkington Dr. to Dead End
- Overlay #9 Dewey Ave: Indiana St. to Oregon St.
- Alley #1 Hawthorne Lane & Washington St: Orchard Ave. to Park Ave.
- Alley #2 Hagerman Lane & Lorenz St: Terrace Heights Dr. to Roscoe Ave.
- Alley #3 Pine St. & Linn St: 3rd St. to 4th St.
- Alley #4 Cedar St. & Walnut St: 7th St. to 8th St.
- Alley #5 Jackson St. & Monroe St: Lincoln Blvd to Grand Ave.
- Alley #6 Chestnut St. & Iowa Ave: 5th St. to 6th St.
- Alley #7 Harrison St. & McArthur St: Lincoln Blvd to Grand Ave.
- Alley #8 Cedar St. & Mullberry Ave: 8th St. to 9th St.
- Alley #9 Hawthorne Lane & Parkington Dr: Orchard Ave. to Park Ave.
PARK AVENUE 4-to-3 LANE CONVERSION
The Park Avenue 4-to-3 Lane Conversion Project has moved into the Washington Street and Park Avenue intersection with the east half currently closed to traffic. Muscatine Power & Water was scheduled to wrap up replacing a water main valve in the intersection Friday (May 7) with Heuer Construction starting reconstruction of the intersection pavement next week. Once the east side is complete, the closure will switch to the west side of the intersection.
Manatts, the prime contractor for the Park Avenue project, anticipates that work in the intersection will continue through at least May 21, weather permitting.
Traffic on Park Avenue is currently restricted to the western two lanes as work continues in Stage 2 (the east side of Park from East 4th to Washington). North-South traffic on Park Avenue will be permitted through the Washington Street intersection but traffic will not be permitted to turn onto Washington Street.
Highway 22 westbound traffic will be detoured onto University Avenue and onto Colorado before returning to Park Avenue. Local traffic only will be permitted past University Avenue while the intersection is closed.
Eastbound traffic on Washington Street will be detoured onto Cypress, to Isett, and to Clay before returning to Park Avenue. Local traffic only will be permitted past Cypress while the intersection is closed.
Closure East Side of Washington Street Intersection (PDF)
Closure West Side of Washington Street Intersection (PDF)
Washington Closure Combined (PDF)
Stage 2B is the full depth patching on the east side of Park Avenue from Washington to East 4th Street including some sidewalk replacement and installation of sidewalk ramps at each intersection. This stage will also include the installation of traffic signal foundations and traffic signal mast arms at the East 5th Street and Park Avenue intersection.
Stage 2B is tentatively scheduled to be completed by May 13, weather permitting.
The final stage of the project, Stage 3, includes full depth patching and traffic signal replacement in the intersection at Washington and Park Avenue, and full depth patching, curb and gutter removal and replacement, and sidewalk ADA ramps from Washington to Colorado. That work is tentatively scheduled from May 14 to August 13, weather permitting.
Milling of the old asphalt overlay and placement of a new asphalt overlay along with paint stripping from Cypress on East 2nd Street to Colorado on Park Avenue is anticipated to be completed between June 7 and August 13.
The improvements included in the Park Avenue 4-to-3 Lane Conversion Project focus specifically on safety, including traffic lane reconfiguration that would change the road from four lanes (two operating in each direction) to three lanes (one lane in each direction and a center two-way, left turn lane) from Harrison Street to the Iowa 92 bridge. The project will also allow for 74 new sidewalk ramps that would be compliant with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guidelines, full depth patching of the roadway, and an asphalt overlay.
Grandview Avenue Reconstruction Project
The two-year Grandview Avenue Reconstruction Project is underway with traffic restricted to northbound traffic only from Main to Musser streets. Southbound traffic will be detoured to Oregon, Stewart Road, and onto Sampson before returning to Grandview. The intersections of Oregon, Warren, and Musser will be kept open as much as possible.
Pavement removal has been completed in the southbound lanes with sanitary and storm sewer work underway. Reconstruction of the southbound lanes will begin once the underground work has been completed starting near the Pearl Street intersection.
Heuer Construction, Inc., was awarded the $7.74 million contract for the two-year Grandview Avenue Reconstruction Project that will remove and replace the pavement from Main Street to approximately 200 yards past Houser Street while adding sidewalks and additional streetscaping to provide a much more inviting corridor for residents and visitors.
The goals of the project are to modernize Grandview Avenue, provide a safe and attractive corridor, improve pavement and utility infrastructure, and enhance the walkability of the Grandview Avenue corridor with enhanced pedestrian opportunities and the incorporation of “green infrastructure”.
Additional information on the project can be found on the City of Muscatine web site at Grandview Avenue Revitalization. A project schedule and portions of the updated plan for the corridor will be available soon on this site.
2nd STREET STREETSCAPE PROJECT
Repaving of the East 2nd and Sycamore intersection has been completed with KE Flatwork, Inc., working on the sidewalks and Eastern Iowa Landscaping the brickwork in the crosswalks. The intersection will remain closed to traffic until at least May 17. Once the intersection is open, work will begin on sidewalk replacement in the 100 block of East 2nd Street starting on the north side of the block.
There will be no parking permitted in the 100 block of East 2nd Street from May 17 through June 14. Traffic will be restricted to one lane during the sidewalk replacement and full depth patching of the roadway with eastbound traffic only May 17-31 (during work on north sidewalks) and westbound only traffic June 1-14 (during work on south sidewalks).
The current schedule has the 100 block of East 2nd Street completed by June 15 when work will move into the East 2nd Street and Iowa Avenue intersection. The contractor anticipates the intersection being closed June 14-July 26 but temporarily opened for the July 4th Parade.
FULL DEPTH PATCHING PROJECT
The Full Depth Patching Project, part of the City of Muscatine 2020-2021 Pavement Management Program, is wrapping up on Ford Avenue and Logan Street.
All-American Concrete, Inc., was awarded the contract to complete the FY20-21 Full Depth Patching Program and has been working on Ford Avenue and Logan Street. The contract also calls for work on Fulliam Avenue from Kindler to Devitt but that work will not begin until the end of the school year due to the proximity to West Middle School.
Two sections that were pulled from the original contract due to concerns over funding are back in with the additional funding from the Iowa DOT. Those two sections include the cul-de-sac on Sterling Woods Court, and two sections on Evans Street, a buckled section near the Reed Street intersection, and the approach to Bond Street. Lane restrictions will be in place for the work on Evans Street.
If funds remain available, Public Works officials indicate that there is the possible that certain “emergency repair” areas will be added to the FY20-21 contract.
WEST HILL PHASE V
Work begin this week on Phase V of the West Hill Sanitary and Storm Sewer Separation Project. The tentative schedule has underground work being completed from West 8th Street through the property at 891 W. 8th and toward Climer through May 21. Utility work will move into West 8th Street May 24, weather permitting.
Drivers are reminded to slow down and use caution when travelling through the construction zone, obey traffic control devices, and be aware of workers. Use an alternate route if possible.
For more information on City of Muscatine construction projects click on CONSTRUCTION to visit the Department of Public Works Construction Projects page.
If you have a comment or concern, please email feedback@muscatineiowa.gov or pwrequest@muscatineiowa.gov. A staff member will respond within 24 hours.