A portion of Hillcrest Drive will be closed for the next two to three weeks as contract crews repair a glitch that occurred with some of the material used in the road’s rehabilitation project last fall.
Both lanes of the road are closed and detours are in place for the duration of the project, which is expected to take approximately two to three weeks to complete.
While there will be no additional cost to taxpayers for the repairs, the top two inches of asphalt will be removed and replaced with new asphalt. The repairs are necessary after the contractor on the project discovered that a substantial amount of shale was present in the top lift of the asphalt and brought it to the City’s attention.
Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said the glitch does not pose a safety issue but rather a longevity one, and that the repairs were delayed until the end of the school year to allow reduced traffic flow around the nearby high school.
“Brent Bell Construction, who has worked closely with us on this project, began milling on Monday and are hoping to begin laying asphalt as early as this week,” Siemers said.
Siemers said a striping crew is scheduled to begin striping lanes on June 10 but could start earlier if the project finishes ahead of schedule.
“Of course, the project schedule is contingent upon weather, which has been a concern lately due to all the rain we’ve had,” he said. “But hopefully everything will proceed as scheduled and we can get the road opened back up as quickly as possible.”