City council OKs $1.1M road project for First Avenue East

Big changes could be in store for First Avenue East.

At its Tuesday meeting the Newton City Council approved an asphalt resurfacing project that could lead to the four lane road decreasing to two lanes with a center turn lane and added bicycle lanes.

The project will extend from 300 feet west of East 14th Street to Iowa Speedway Drive. Director of Public Works Keith Laube said the project picks up where the most recent resurfacing project left off near Pizza Hut on First Avenue East.

The resurfacing portion of the project consists of milling the existing asphalt and placing a new overlay of asphalt pavement. Concrete repairs will also be made where needed on the eastern concrete paved portion of the street.

The new striping on the road — taking it to three lanes — was generated by feedback compiled in a road use study for city streets.

“The traffic counts along this section are about 9,000 to 10,000 vehicle each day and in many cities across Iowa they are doing what is called road diets where we have two lanes that are going both ways makes more points on contact,” Laube said. “When they narrowed it down to three lanes, the number of points of contact and the number of accidents go down and the speed goes down a little bit as well.”

The roadway would be striped to be three lanes with a center turn lane, one eastbound lane and one westbound lane and on-street bikes lanes next to each curb.

“With our existing street width it just works out that when we go from four lanes to three lanes there is five feet on each side that would allow for bike transportation on the roadway rather than putting a hike and bike trail, sidewalk together,” Laube said.

The final piece of the project is sidewalks on both sides of the street in locations where there currently aren’t any.

The preliminary cost estimate for the project is $1.1 million. The work in the traveled lanes is estimated at $678,150 and will be paid for by the Iowa Department of Transportation. Work outside of the traveled lanes is estimated at $452,750 with the city paying 20 percent or $90,550. Those costs will be paid using funds from the city road use tax fund.

While council approved the project, several council members voiced concerns on changing the lane layout without further research and feedback from the public. Laube said the design phase of the project would take place in the fall with a projected fall 2017 construction date leaving ample time for changes.

Also approved is the North Fourth Avenue West reconstruction project, the second major street reconstruction for the city behind South Second Avenue. Manatts, Inc. of Brooklyn was awarded the contract with a bid of $1.2 million.

The reconstruction consists of new concrete pavement from West Eighth Street North to West 15th Street North. The street will be 31 feet wide, six feet wider than the current roadway allowing space for parking on the south side of the street. Also, new sidewalks will be constructed on both sides of the street where concrete walks do not exist.

“Right now, there is existing sidewalk on the south side and the north side there is existing walk in sections, about a third of the length of the project,” Laube said. “We realized that we really needed to fill the gaps. As a community that wants walkability, this is an area we want sidewalks.”

The new sidewalks will be five feet wide to keep in compliance with the American with Disabilities Act standards and DOT standards.

“I do think that we need to offer sidewalks, especially when they are routes for school children,” councilwoman Evelyn George said.

North Fourth Avenue West is a federal-aid classified road and received Surface Transportation Program funds from the Federal Highway Administration. The STP funds cover 80 percent of the costs while the city will pay the final 20 percent or $204,980. Funds from the 2015 pond proceeds will cover $170,000 of the costs while the remaining $34,90 will coming from the city road use tax fund.

In other business:

• Marshall and Dusty Clements and Ed and Laurie Siddall were approved for Downtown Micro Grants. The Clements were approved for up to $2,000 for their building at 209 North Second Avenue West to improve the aesthetics and functionality of the property. The Siddalls will receive up to $960 to replace the front door on their building at 302 First Avenue West.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com