Work resumes on 10th Ave. site

After weeks of delays, workers finally began pouring concrete pavement on 10th Ave. between Illinois and Jackson streets.

The crew started laying pavement on Monday and finished the main portion of the street on Tuesday afternoon. Workers should finish a small amount of concrete work in the alleys on Wednesday.

The city plans to have the outer portion of the sidewalks poured sometime next week. Although the city was displeased with work completed by Werner Construction earlier in the project, this crew is performing to the city's satisfaction, said Sidney's Public Services Director John Hehnke.

"They've done an excellent job," he said.

The concrete crew from Werner Construction was scheduled to be in Sidney weeks ago.

The city is considering closing the intersection at 10th and Jackson to remove and replace the pavement there directly after the work on the current phase of the project is finished. This would avoid opening 10th Ave. and then closing it again for work on the intersection.

Hehnke acknowledged that work on subsequent phases of the 10th Ave. project are off track because of the delays on the first portion of the project.

"It kind of snowballs," Hehnke said.

Once the city finishes with the first portion of the project, it should be able to move more quickly and perhaps make up at least some of the time lost on the current phase of the project. The city planned to have work on this phase of the project completed by mid-July.

The work on 10th Ave. is a federal aide project to replace the curb, gutter and pavement on 10th Ave. between Osage St. and Illinois St. This project also involves improvements to the storm sewers along 10th Ave. as well as replacement of the outer portion of the sidewalk on that stretch of road to align with Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. The project has a total price tag of around $1.3 million, but the state pays 80 percent of the cost while the city pays 20 percent.

During work, traffic on 10th Ave. is rerouted to 13th Ave. around the section on which construction is being performed at that time.

The upcoming phases of the project include work on 10th Ave. from Osage to between Newton and Maple and from between Linden and King to Jackson. The city hopes to have the entire project finished by mid-October at the latest.