At the Public Works meeting on Monday night, Aug. 29,2005, there was a reopening of the discussion of Upper East Main Renovation. Chairman, Bill Hammann indicated that now that the Hwy 14 DOT project is drawing to a close, it is time to intensify the discussion about the plan for Upper East Main.
The original plan had been for the City to do work in the summer of 2006, 2007, and 2008 with the objective of short interruptions to minimize the damage to downtown business. While applauding the objective, some business owners wondered whether it might be best to have 2006 be a "recovery" year from construction so that the perception is avoided that the downtown is perpetually closed. Mr. Hammann said that this is a valid concern and that the Public Works committee is looking for business input on this matter and all of the ideas about the "streetscaping plan" and will be holding public hearings in September to fully air the plans with the public.
On the "streetscapting plan" for Upper East Main, Jeff Farnsworth presented some results from a sub-committee examining options. One of the options that was considered a pipe-dream a year ago was the use of restored existing paving bricks on East Main. Dave Sauer went over the life expectancy of asphalt(10yrs), concrete(20yrs) and paving bricks(100 years). Paving bricks are more expensive at the front end, but not over longer term. Also, federal grants are available. The bricks are actually all the rage nationwide right now. A consultant brought in showed that the existing buried bricks are in excellent condition. This had not been anticipated. Some alternatives might also be considered such as doing the intersections in paving brick. Readers are urged to view the use of paving brick motif at the intersection of Union and East Main that was just done yesterday to get the idea.
Mr. Hammann asked Dave Sauer to gather detailed cost projections of each paving type for the next meeting. There will be a full public hearing about all the options that are possible and the public will be asked their thoughts on this.
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I hope there is business and broad public input on whether any work should be done in the intersection of Main St. and Madison St. in 2006. If the city does not do some sanitary sewer and water main work in that intersection in 2006, then that intersection will be shut down during part of 2007, at the same time Main St. is shut down. That will make it more difficult for customers to reach Main St. businesses through their back doors.
ReplyDeleteBill Connors
Evansville City Administrator