by Rob Vance, City of Salida Public Works Director
December 10, 2009
Happy Holidays to everyone. I hope the holiday season is filled with blessings for you and your family. This holiday season is special for me in many ways, one of which is part one of the two part Highway 50 sidewalk and lighting project is drawing to an end. Y&K Excavation, our contractors on this project, are on their last leg of the project with an expected completion date of December 12th. Once substantially complete, we move into the final inspection and the creation of a punch list of needed corrections. We are expecting these corrections to be fairly minor and should only take a few days to complete. Then the biggest portion of the project will be complete.
The next part of the project is the installation of the street lights. After speaking with representatives of Xcel Energy the lights should be delivered next week and installed shortly thereafter and possibly into 2010. Once the lights are installed and working then the project is officially over and we can start enjoying the added safety the sidewalks and lighting provide to pedestrians and motorists. Our business owners should start to enjoy the benefits that the increased accessibility and aesthetic improvements bring to the area.
And with that, Y & K and I would like to extend our thanks to everyone, especially the Highway 50 business owners that have endured the disruptions that construction has caused over the last 100 days. Construction is difficult in any form but this construction was even more difficult as most driveways were removed and reinstalled. There were times when it was difficult to find the accesses even though the traffic control was very good. All of business owners and their patrons were very understanding and worked well with us. Construction this late in the year also brings other complications, namely weather. The project has experienced two heavy snow storms and some very cold temperatures, and yet the contractor has managed to keep the project within the specified contract days. Overall things have gone fairly smooth.
The great aspect of this project was that it is truly a community effort. Years ago the City had a study done to address the streetscape on Highway 50. The business owners were not satisfied with the results of that study and took it upon themselves to develop a concept plan. The City then took that plan and adopted it, pursued and obtained grant funding, to include ARRA funding. The City and the citizens then worked together to take that concept and make it a workable design. Lastly the design was implemented into a reality for all of us to use and enjoy. Again my thanks to the Highway 50 Committee, City staff, and citizens that worked so hard to make this project happen.
Robert Vance
Recent Comments