Summer projects to begin soon on roads

The annual summer rite of road repairs and detours will begin in a few short weeks in the Mitchell area.

The city’s major project entails mill and asphalt overlay work on Minnesota Street from Havens Avenue to 15th Avenue. Sidewalk ramps and curb and gutter also will be rebuilt.

The project won’t be bid until June, but Public Works Director Tim McGannon anticipates that work will begin in August and end in October. Detours have yet to be planned.

“It’s one of our worst main routes,” he said of Minnesota Street. “If we don’t do this overlay to Minnesota in the next two to three years, then we’ll have to rebuild it. Then the cost goes up five times.”

Area residents will see Sanborn Boulevard shrink from four to two lanes starting May 24 when concrete portions of the street and curb and gutter from Havens Street to Fourth Avenue will be replaced. D&D Concrete in Sioux Falls is in charge of the $46,000 project, said Terry Johnson, deputy public works director.

The city has planned several asphalt overlay projects this summer. Stretches include Rowley Street from Quince to Spruce streets, Dobson Street from Ash to Cedar avenues, Fourth Avenue from Marshall to Wallace streets and Kimball Street from Seventh to Ninth avenues, Johnson said.

City crews also plan to complete 100 blocks of chip sealing projects this summer to extend the life of streets, he said.

Chamberlain and Oacoma residents are facing the second of a three-year, $14.88 million project to replace the truss bridge over the Missouri River. Work has resumed, with an interim completion of Dec. 1 for the winter, said Tammy Williams, state Department of Transportation area engineer in Mitchell.

Drivers on Interstate 90 already are facing delays in their travels with several construction projects, which are summarized below.

• Work began Monday to rebuild a 12-mile stretch of I-90 in the eastbound lanes from Plankinton to Mount Vernon for $9.4 million.

The prime contractor — Knife River Midwest in Sioux City, Iowa — began preparing westbound lanes for head-tohead traffic Monday. Concrete removal and paving will start the week of May 24. The project will be finished by Oct. 29.

• Construction started on April 19 to replace a bridge approach and repair westbound lanes of I-90 west of Oacoma. Buskerud Construction, Dell Rapids, is in charge of the $250,000 project. It will be done by July 2. Traffic is reduced to one lane.

• The bridge at the White Lake interchange at I-90 will get a new concrete deck for $973,000, said Eric Prunty, DOT engineering supervisor in Mitchell. Sioux Falls Construction will complete the project by Oct. 29. One-lane traffic with traffic signals is in place.

• The bridges at the Mount Vernon and Plankinton interchanges will have a new asphalt overlay as part of a continuing, $849,000 project from 2009, Williams said. Work started in early April and could be done by the end of June.

• McCook County will be part of a 28-mile asphalt resurfacing project on I-90 from the Salem to Highway 38 interchanges, Prunty said.

The DOT Commission has yet to award the project, but the low bid was $8.8 million, he said. The project will start roughly in June, with completion near Oct. 15. One lane in each direction will be closed.

• Six bridge decks are being replaced on I-90 for a six-mile stretch in Jones County, said Doug Sherman, DOT area engineer in Winner. Work on the $3.5 million project began April 19, with one-lane closures in place. The project will finish in late July or early August.

Other projects are planned on state highways in the area. Fifteen-minute delays will occur with flaggers and a pilot car unless otherwise indicated in the project summaries below.

• Mill and asphalt overlay on 12 miles of Highway 281 south of Armour to Highway 50 and 18 miles on Highway 18 from Highway 281 to Tripp. Spencer Quarries/Commercial Asphalt will start the $5.7 million project on May 24.

The project will be done at the end of June.

• Mill and asphalt overlay on 24 miles of Highway 50 from Lake Andes to Highway 44. Spencer Quarries/Commercial Asphalt will tentatively start the $4.3 million project in July with work done by month’s end.

• Construction started April 13 to replace four concrete bridge decks on a seven-mile stretch of Highway 44 west of Highway 47. PCI Roads in St. Michael, Minn., is in charge of the $771,742 project. It will finish around Aug. 6. Traffic is reduced to one lane at bridge sites.

• Crack-leveling projects have begun on Highway 44 near Winner and Highway 83 from Murdo to White River. Work on the $456,576 joint project will be finished by mid-June by Farhner Asphalt Sealers in Plover, Wis.

• Eight miles of Highway 224 from Alpena to Highway 37 are part of a mill and asphalt overlay project costing $1.4 million. Asphalt Paving and Materials in Huron will start the project in July or August and be done in a month.

• An eight-mile stretch of Highway 38 from Riverside Road to 421st Avenue is part of a $1.3 million project for mill and asphalt overlay work. Spencer Quarries/Commercial Asphalt will start work in September or October and finish by the end of October.

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