Busy 42nd Street, neighborhood West Post Road among 26 projects done in 2016

CEDAR RAPIDS - As winter approaches and the 2016 road construction season ends, residents along West Post Road NW will get at least one wish granted this holiday season - a smooth ride.

The bumpy, patched-over residential street near Truman Elementary School was ripped up and repaved this year, complete with bike 'sharrows” and drainage to whisk away rainwater.

Andrea Ard, 28, who lives on the street, said it had been 'the worst road in Cedar Rapids.”

'It's nice; I love it,” said Ard. 'Our neighborhood had been requesting this for a long time.”

The West Post Road project was one of 26 completed totaling about $18.4 million this year through Paving for Progress, a street repair program supported by a 10-year, 1 percent local-option sales tax voters approved in 2013.

Three phases have been completed in the four-phase, $2 million West Post project, which improved from E Avenue to Skyline Drive, with the final phase addressing a gap between Holly Avenue and Plainview Drive slated for 2017.

In years' past, residential roads such as West Post would have been passed over for higher volume main arterial and connector streets.

'It was one of those roadways that was in awful shape,” said Doug Wilson, the Paving for Progress manager. 'People would call about it, but given funding sources we had and prioritization we had, those types of roads wouldn't have been worked on, wouldn't have been replaced, and that is a huge difference because that road was terrible, too, worse than 42nd street in some ways.”

Variety and complexity

To be sure, Paving for Progress spread its wings in 2016 to take on a wider variety - and more complex - projects.

'This was really our first big season of reconstruction,” said Jen Winter, the Cedar Rapids public works director.

The city anticipates generating $18 million annually from the tax, and budgets to spend the money as quickly as it comes in. The strategy is to balance three types of road work: basic maintenance, rehabilitation to extend the life of roads, and reconstruction of some of the worst roads.

Bigger reconstruction projects need time for design, planning and obtaining easements, which can take a year or more.

The first year of Paving for Progress, 2014, took on 'quick start” projects. Last year focused on basic work, such as rehabilitation and pavement overlays. This year, the city wove in a handful of reconstruction projects in which roads were torn out and repaved.

Among the projects completed in 2016:

' Oakland Road NE, which included pavement rehabilitation, intersection reconstruction and bike and pedestrian improvements.

' Seventh Street SE, which included repaving the street and converting it from one-way to two-way travel.

' Edgewood Road NW, which included rehabilitation.

The 2016 slate included 12 major roadways and 14 residential streets, totaling about 10 miles of pavement upgrades.

The city completed three-quarters of the slate of 34 projects identified at the start of the construction season. Five had optional start or end dates and the contractor opted to finish the work in 2017; weather was a factor in one case, and in two cases, some of the work was completed but the pavement condition required more intensive repairs than anticipated - prompting more engineering or design, said Public Works spokeswoman Emily Muhlbach.

So far, since Paving for Progress began in summer 2014, 78 projects have been completed, covering 24 miles of roadway at a cost of $40.8 million through October.

42nd Street Makeover

The largest project of 2016 was reconstruction of 42nd Street NE near Kennedy High School. The road carries about 12,000 vehicles per day heading to homes, schools and employers such as Transamerica and Berthel Fisher.

'That is about as big of a project - lengthwise for that width - as we can do in one season,” Wilson said. 'That's a half mile of paving.”

The city awarded a $2.9 million contract to Rathje Construction Co. to reconstruct 42nd between Wenig Road NE and just west of Interstate 380. The project widened the road, added to the center turn lane, installed bike lanes, improved sidewalks, pedestrian crossing and curb ramps and upgraded the water main.

'I'm very pleased especially with the bike lanes,” said Matthew Van Maanen, 44, a Transamerica worker who was jogging on the new sidewalks over his lunch break and makes use of the bike lanes. 'This feels much safer.”

Tim Sines, who lives on the street, lamented the loss of a few feet of his driveway, which cut in half his parking capacity. But he praised the speed with which the work was done, the new bike lanes and the condition of the pavement.

'The street is beautiful, nice to drive,” Sines said. 'Losing the driveway is inconvenient, but in 10 years I won't even remember.”

Road Work Rifts

‘While many are pleased with the finished product of roads, inevitably some point out concerns.

Ard, on West Post, noted work took longer than expected, wrapping up in late November instead of by the end of summer. She couldn't access her driveway for a month, and heading into winter her front yard is in disarray from construction.

'We couldn't even hand out Halloween candy,” she said.

Because phase two of the West Post project was ahead of schedule, contractors began phase three, which wasn't supposed to start until 2017, said Muhlbach.

On 42nd Street, Dawn Brooks, 61, now sees a traffic light for pedestrians standing outside her front picture window, a chunk of her driveway is gone and construction damaged the root system of her trees, she said. She agrees the improvements were needed, but said she is looking to move.

'I am very upset with how much land they took and where they put the stoplight,” she said, noting drivers aren't expecting a stoplight mid-block.

Fixing other problems

When road major work is ordered, the city examines what other priorities can feasibly be done at the same time, such as upgrading old utilities, adding sidewalks and installing bike and pedestrian amenities in compliance with the Complete Streets policy.

'If we just do a rehabilitation project we might do minor utility work, but anytime we do reconstruction we have to look at the sanitary sewer, the water main, the storm sewers because we don't want to tear up that new pavement,” Winter said.

In 2016, 3 miles of sidewalk, including 1 mile that didn't exist before, were constructed through Paving for Progress, including on 42nd Street, 74th Street NE, Oakland Road NE, McCarthy Road SE and 29th Street Drive SE.

In the case of West Post Road, the city added drainage along side streets, such as Harbet Avenue NW, to battle flash flooding.

'Whenever it rains it creates a nice river going down the street,” said Stephen Brubaker, 69, who lives on Harbet.

He didn't think the extra work was needed, but acknowledged better drainage might help.

Data drives plan

The latest Iowa Department of Transportation pavement condition data showed more roads than thought can be saved through rehabilitation and preservation techniques instead of the more costly reconstruction, Wilson said.

'Our streets are not deteriorating as quickly as we thought they were,” he said.

The data is the backbone of the road plan.

'We have data on every street in the city, which is really helpful,” Winter said. 'As we continue to get better data in - this has always been a fluid, flexible program and there will be changes in it ... It's been key to have a data-driven plan we can use as guidance.”

Looking ahead to next year, Cedar Rapids officials are expected to award contracts over the winter for several projects that should get started in spring 2017.

One option being explored is to hire a contractor to do milling work on several road projects but have city crews complete the projects, Winter said.

The city has identified 10 projects for 2017, but more will be added after determining the cost for the larger projects, Winter said.

Among the largest projects for 2017 are reconstruction of C Avenue NE from Old Marion Road to Collins Road, O Avenue NW from 16th Street NW to Ellis Boulevard NW, E Avenue NE from 19th Street NE to 20th Street NE, Northwood Drive NE from 42nd Street NE to Brookland Drive NE, and 14th Avenue SE from 36th Street SE to 42nd Street SE.

l Comments: (319) 339-3177; brian.morelli@thegazette.com