One- And Six-Year Street Program OK’d

SIDNEY – After a public hearing and a slideshow for the one- and six-year proposed street improvement program, Sidney City Council approved the program via a resolution. The presentation was made during the council’s regular session Tuesday night, and outlined which projects were completed last year, which ones are scheduled for completion this fiscal year and what projects lay ahead.

Streets Superintendent Hank Radtke led the presentation, which included pre-construction and post-construction photos of completed projects. Radtke said the presentation was required by law.

After reviewing the state statutes that require the program presentation, Radtke discussed the projects completed in the last fiscal year.

Forrest Street from 13th Avenue to 14th Avenue, 10th Avenue/11th Avenue from Toledo Street to the south bridge and Eighth Avenue from Hickory Street to Illinois Street were completed last year. Ninth Avenue from Hickory Street to Illinois Street and the Verde Lane Dam Storm Drain were projects moved forward to the current fiscal year plan.

Radtke said the Verde Lane Dam Storm Drain project was not completed due to summer moisture. The Ninth Avenue project was not completed due to fears that after tearing up the street next to the U.S. Post Office, winter would set in and end construction.

“We already had the money set aside for this and it was supposed to be completed,” Radtke said. “Instead of trying to get it done for the winter and having it tore up all winter, we’re waiting for spring thaw to come out and get done so we can complete this project.”

Two other projects made up the one-year list and included Old Post Road from Link 17-J to Silverberg Drive, otherwise known as the driveway to Wal-Mart. City officials have said previously that an agreement with Wal-Mart to help fund the project had been reached, and construction may occur at the same time the store undergoes a remodel.

The other project is included in the Downtown Improvement Projects to build bulb-outs at Ninth Avenue/10th Avenue/11th Avenue and Illinois Street, and 10th Avenue and Jackson Street. The decorative crosswalks, which can be seen at the newly constructed Eighth Avenue segment at Illinois Street, will not cross Illinois Street itself, Radtke said.

According to the one-year plan summary, the projects’ total cost is $1.062 million. One-year projects were discussed during council budgeting sessions in August. Radtke said they are included in the current fiscal year budget for the department.

Projects on the six-year plan, some of which have been on the plan for numerous years, included 11th Avenue from Lodgepole Road to the bridge, 10th Avenue from Hickory Street to the Burlington Northern & Sante Fe Railroad crossing, 13th Avenue from Illinois Street to the BNRR crossing, Fort Sidney Road, Elm Street from 13th Avenue to 17th Avenue, Forrest Street from 14th Avenue to 17th Avenue, 17th Avenue from Elm Street to Forrest Street, Seventh Avenue Storm Drain from Jackson Street to Linden Street and Illinois Street from 23rd Avenue to Fifth Avenue. The final project will be completed at the same time the state department of roads reconstructs U.S. Highway 30.

Total cost of the six-year plan, which includes the costs of the one-year plan, is $8.318 million. However, that number includes the total cost of the Illinois Street project estimated at $2.646 million. The city’s estimated cost on the project would be $750,000.

“Most of these projects were added to the stimulus project, but we were denied anyway,” Radtke said. “We are not an economically-challenged community according to the State of Nebraska.”

A question was raised to clarify the Verde Lane Dam Storm Drain project, which Councilman Marvin Filsinger spoke to.

“That culvert is down below the top of the surface of Country Club Drive, approximately eight feet,” Filsinger said. “That is a 6-foot culvert that goes through there now. The top of the culvert is about two feet above the surface.”

Filsinger said the plan would be to remove the 6-foot culvert and replace it with two 4-foot culverts. They would be placed a foot below the top of the surface so that the bottom would be 5 feet below the road, he said.

Filsinger said the tree stumps would be torn out of the area, and dirt stockpiled from the construction of the Legion Park Pond would be used for the project.

The reconstruction of the area is necessary, according to Filsinger, because it’s currently a “maintenance nightmare” and a “liability.”

Filsinger made a motion to accept the plan, seconded by Councilman Bob VanVleet. The plan was accepted unanimously.