Fairfield embarking on road construction projects

FAIRFIELD — The city of Fairfield is in the midst of a few road construction projects motorists should be aware of.

City crews are patching portions of the town’s main drag, East Burlington Avenue, though disruption to motorists should be minimal. Fairfield City Engineer Melanie Carlson said work on the eastbound lane will finish this week, and work will then commence on the westbound lane and last a couple more weeks.

“We’ll have two lanes of traffic the whole time,” Carlson said. “We’ll close the center turning lane and use that as one of the two lanes.”

The other road construction projects in town are part of a large $1.5 million bond the city took out for street improvements last year. One of those was rebuilding 23rd Street, or Industrial Park Road, which was finished last year. The contractor, Jones Contracting Corp. of West Point, hoped to do a couple of smaller road construction projects that year, but the weather did not allow for it, which is why they are being done now. Those projects are the reconstruction of Ninth Street from Burlington to Washington avenues, which is underway, and C Street from Burlington to Broadway, which will begin later this week.

Residents who need to access the Roosevelt Community Recreation Center on the Ninth Street should be aware that the east parking lot is not accessible from Burlington Avenue. Instead, they can access that parking lot from Jefferson Avenue, to the south. The parking lot north of the rec center off Burlington Avenue is also open.

Carlson said it’s hard to guess how long Ninth Street will be closed because this is a wet time of year, but she expects it to remain closed for about eight weeks.

Carlson said the city chose to repave Ninth and C streets partly because they were in bad shape, and also partly because city staff knew the bond would give them enough money for two more blocks, and thus decided these two one-block sections fit the bill.

Another road construction project the city plans for this summer is reconstructing Morgan Street on the east side of town. The city has not hired a contractor for that project, so the exact schedule is unknown.

Carlson said the city will begin two major projects this fall: replacing Crow Creek Bridge on the east edge of Fairfield, and building a roundabout at the intersection of South Main Street and Libertyville Road. That project will include rebuilding a portion of South Main Street, and adding a wide trail on one side of the road and a sidewalk on the other. Both projects will be bid this fall, so work could start on them later this year.

The city is expecting the reconstruction of the Crow Creek Bridge to cost about $1.45 million, with $1 million coming from construction grants, and $150,000 each from the city and county. The county recently transferred control of the bridge to the city. Carlson said the city plans to apply for an additional $140,000 in grants.

When Crow Creek Bridge is closed, motorists will need to find an alternate route to access Business 34 and to get on I-34 east of town. Carlson said the official detour will be announced later.

For the roundabout on South Main Street, the city plans to keep two lanes of traffic open during construction, which is a requirement of funding from the Department of Transportation.

“Other than having to slow down, there might not be tremendous disruption [for motorists],” Carlson said.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com