Fourth Street in Fairfield closes

FAIRFIELD — A portion of Fourth Street in Fairfield will be closed for construction for the next three to four weeks.

The portion of the street is between Grimes and Depot avenues. The street is being closed so crews can replace water and sewer lines, and then resurface a four-block stretch of Fourth Street with a new layer of asphalt.

Fairfield City Engineer Melanie Carlson said that one lane of traffic will be reopened after that three- to four-week period as Fourth Street is patched and resurfaced and expects some construction on the street until early September. Signage in the area directs traffic to take Third Street instead.

Carlson said the city tries to coordinate utility work with street construction so it does not have to dig up a newly paved road. That’s why these projects are being done together, similar to how the city replaced water main under Carpenter Avenue last year and is replacing the street this year.

The city has chosen to resurface Fourth Street this year for a number of reasons, one of which was that it was eligible to receive a grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation, which only certain roads are eligible for. Carlson added that the high volume of traffic on Fourth Street and its poor condition vaulted it to the top of the city’s priority list.

Another road the city is resurfacing courtesy of a DOT grant is 32nd Street on the west edge of town. Once construction on it begins next week, it will be reduced to one lane through early September. Though the city is doing its portion of the road now, from Burlington Avenue to the Jackpine Loop, the county will do its portion next year, from the Jackpine Loop to Libertyville Road.

Post office alley reconstruction

Carlson said the public should be aware of an upcoming street project that will affect how they access the U.S. Post Office on West Broadway Avenue. The post office has a drive-up box where motorists can deposit envelopes without having to leave their vehicle.

The drive-up box will be moved from the north-south alley west of the post office to the front of it, on West Broadway. It might mean that drivers will have to get out of their vehicles to drop off an envelope.

“We know it’s not convenient, but it’s the best option we have,” Carlson said.

Construction will begin in the first part of August and last six weeks. Carlson said the entire north-south alley of that block will be redone as well as most of the east-west alley.

“For the last four years, the street department made an internal priority of repaving downtown alleys because a lot of people walk on them and businesses use them for deliveries,” Carlson said.

The city has been repaving one block of alleys per year. Carlson noted that most alleys in town are gravel, and that only those in the downtown tend to be paved.

Starting Aug. 2, the city will begin repaving portion of C Street, Ninth Street and 23rd Street (the Industrial Park Road).