Eastern Boulevard project to continue during winter

Clark County

Discussion

October 31, 2009

Town blames delays on utility work

By DAVID A. MANN The News and Tribune Sat Oct 31, 2009, 05:09 PM EDT

Clarksville’s Eastern Boulevard project will continue through the winter and contractors working on the road likely will be paid more because the project has taken longer than expected.

“Most of the delays have been associated with utility movement,” said Rick Dickman, Clarksville’s redevelopment director.

Water and gas lines are being moved as a part of the project. Additionally, he said, heavy rains during the last year have slowed the project.

Because the delays are not the town’s or the contractor’s fault, Dickman said, the contractor, Mac Construction, likely will receive additional compensation.

They’re already being paid about $4 million for the project. He was unsure how much the price tag would rise as a result of the delays.

Including about $1 million in property acquisition, it’s a more than $5 million project. The plan is to widen, modernize, landscape and add sidewalks and streetlights to the one-time destination strip. It’s the first time the road has had a major resurfacing in almost 20 years.

Work began Aug. 16, 2008, and was expected to take about 18 months, but Mac has two years to complete the renovation, which has impacted motorists, businesses and nearby residents. Dickman said it likely will be June before the road is complete.

“They will work as long as weather permits, but you don’t pour concrete with water in it, in freezing temperatures,” he said.

Additionally, he noted that the asphalt plant doesn’t produce in the winter months.

In addition to the regular problems, Dickman said snow removal would take some forethought this winter because there are manholes raised above the street surface as a result of the construction. Asphalt will have to be packed around the manholes and flags will have to be placed so they’re not hit by snow plows should a winter storm hit the area.

“We’ve got a workable plan to keep Eastern Boulevard moving,” he said.

Business owners along the street have differing opinions of the project.

“[It’s been] devastating,” said J.D. Welch, manager at Uncle Bob’s Tattoo Studio. “It’s affecting our business by at least 45 percent.”

He said a number of businesses have closed down since the project started. He believes it has impacted the tattoo studio especially because it’s a business that consumers typically visit on impulse. Some customers have come in and told him they thought the business was closed.

Asked if he thought the project would be worth it, he said, “I’m hoping so. I just don’t know what’s going to be left after the construction is done.”

Up the road, Reeder’s Cleaners & Laundry owner Doug Nally said, “some days are better than others.”

He said business had declined, but it’s hard to know whether to blame the construction or the economy. Both became factors about the same time, he said.

Business owners along the street hope to see the road return to its heyday as a place to visit and shop as a result of the project, he said.

WORK AT A GLANCE

• Work began on Clarksville’s Eastern Boulevard on Aug. 16, 2008. It was expected to take about 18 months to complete, weather permitting. The plan will widen the road to five lanes from Carter Avenue to Ettels Lane. Past there, it will narrow to four lanes, then widen out again near the intersection with Lewis and Clark Parkway.

— Staff reports