People in Riverside have learned a lot about major road projects.
A dozen residents attended a public meeting Jan. 22 to learn more about the upcoming Fourth Street paving project.
The timing …
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People in Riverside have learned a lot about major road projects.
A dozen residents attended a public meeting Jan. 22 to learn more about the upcoming Fourth Street paving project.
The timing of the public meeting was one of the lessons learned by the council. Past meetings with residents were held after the project had been bid.
The city’s engineer Scott Pottorff said this project would not be bid for several weeks, giving him time to incorporate comments from residents into the final design.
Residents in their comments and questions referred to aspects of prior projects that they felt were not done correctly.
“I want to know that we are going to do this project right,” one resident told Pottorff and the City Council.
The project calls for repaving Fourth Street from Highway 22 to 150 feet east of Greene Street. The new street will be 31 feet wide. Work will include water mains, sidewalks and curbs and replacing driveways for homeowners along the route.
Rose Street from St. Mary’s to the alley between Third and Fourth streets will be repaved, too.
Both streets will be closed during the project, although residents will have access to their homes.
Fourth Street presents a number of challenges due to the steepness of the hill that the street climbs.
“It’s very challenging, not only for drainage, but for ADA compliance,” Pottorff said.
The steepness of the hill is one reason the project is stopping short of Greene Street. The unfinished portion of Fourth will be completed when Greene Street is repaved.
“We stopped far enough from Greene to be able to match it up,” Mayor Allen Schneider said.
At a council meeting on Jan. 20, Pottorff said parts of the sidewalk on Fourth will be lowered two feet to flatten the slope. Some yards on the street will be graded to match the lower sidewalk, and in a couple of cases, a retaining wall will be built.
The council has set a public hearing on the project for Feb. 18. Pottorff said work will begin in late April or early May. The proposed bid requirements call for the project to be completed in 75 workdays, a change from previous projects that set a start and finish date.
“I think there are going to be some growing pains from having ditches and 3-foot sidewalks,” Councilperson Edgar McGuire said. “In the long run, it will be better.”
