By DANIEL SUDDEATH
A six-week project to repair deteriorated sanitary lines along 15th Street in New Albany will likely begin in August.
On Tuesday, The Board of Works and Public Safety agreed to allow contractors to work past 6 p.m. during construction so the upgrades can be made as quick as possible.
Depressions and manholes along 15th Street were caused by leaking sanitary pipes according to Paul Elling, senior project manager for the Indianapolis firm Donohue & Associates.
Elling has been researching stormwater and sanitary problems in the 15th Street area for the city. His suggested course of action is a three-tiered project with the initial phase to be all sanitary work, funded by the sewer board.
Phase two — which will be included in the August work — focuses on repairing stormwater lines. Phase three would address lining stormwater joints that are in danger of failing but have not collapsed yet.
Phase three may have to wait though, as funding has only been promised for the first two segments, which are estimated to cost $1.2 million combined.
The first two phases require work under the railroad tracks that run adjacent to 15th Street, which is why they are both to likely be included in the August construction.
CSX Railroad Corp. owns the tracks and is scheduled to replace them along 15th Street, so construction workers can come in at the same time to do the necessary sanitary and stormwater upgrades.
“There’s going to be a little bit of trading, as CSX doesn’t want to do any of the paving work and at the same time, the stormwater and sewer boards don’t want to have to pay for railroad flagging,” Elling said.
So the contractor will take care of the paving with CSX flipping the bill for flaggers, which come at a cost of between $750 to $1,000 per day. Elling said the costs for paving and flaggers should be about the same.
Phase three work would not require availability of CSX’s tracks, so Elling said the price wouldn’t change much if that portion has to be put on hold.
But the price tag for the first two segments of the project would really go up if the city didn’t team with CSX, he added.
“We can try and save some money by doing that work in conjunction with the railroad,” Elling said.
The board of works will decide on a traffic plan next month, as a construction bid probably will be awarded by the sewer board on July 23.
There will be some delays on 15th Street as well as on side roads, such as Elm Street. Elling doesn’t believe Spring Street will be directly impacted as far as traffic flow during the work.
Elm Street speeding addressed
The board also addressed complaints from Elm Street residents concerned about speeding in their neighborhood, which were first brought to the body two weeks ago.
Board President Matt Denison read the residents that showed up Tuesday an analysis written by New Albany Police Chief Greg Crabtree. The department targeted Elm, from 10th to 15th streets, for speeders beginning June 23.
During that time, 22 citations were written, five warnings issued and one arrest made. Dennis Smith is the Traffic Division Director for the NAPD, and he said those numbers aren’t alarming.
“For the traffic flow that would be up there, that’s pretty low,” Smith said of the number of tickets written on Elm.
Denison said there is a heavy volume of traffic on Elm, but said the police report shows there really isn’t enough evidence at this time to lower the speed limit from 30 miles per hour.
City Engineer Tim Marinaro also looked at the traffic situation on Elm. He suggested installing a temporary four-way stop sign at the intersection of 13th Street and Elm for a temporary trial to see if that would slow traffic some.
Boat ramp, River Road to close
To clear the way for Friday’s celebration at the riverfront amphitheatre, the New Albany boat ramp will be closed beginning at 9 p.m. Thursday until midnight Friday.
Also, River Road will be blocked from Sixth to 10th streets beginning at 8 a.m. Friday until midnight Friday.
The concert is set to begin at 5 p.m. with fireworks to follow the music. Admission to the event is free.
