Work on the Price Road rehabilitation project will be delayed until after the holidays to better accommodate traffic in the area, Director of Engineering Micah Siemers said this week.
“Portions of this project involve limiting traffic to one direction only, so we thought it would be best to delay construction on the project until after the holiday season,” he said.
The project involves smoothing out the washboard effect on Price Road between the roundabout and U.S. Highway 75, as well as adding shoulders and re-enforcing the roadway joints. A start date for the project is now set for Jan. 7.
Projects currently underway
Projects currently underway include the installation of sidewalks in the area of Hoover Elementary and Madison Middle schools, Siemers said.
Funding for the Safe Routes to Schools program comes from a federal grant that covers 100 percent of the cost of construction.
“Sidewalks will be added on Amherst between Harvard and Madison Boulevard, along the east side of Madison from Hoover Elementary to the Sooner Park entrance, and also between Madison Middle School and Quail Ridge Road,” Siemers said.
Siemers said sidewalk construction on Amherst is about 25 percent complete, and that contract crews will be moving soon to other areas between Hoover School and Sooner Park.
Once the sidewalks are installed, the contractors will begin work on the Mountain Road mill and overlay project. Though weather delays are possible, that project will likely start in December.
“Once construction begins, the main entrance to Circle Mountain will be closed to traffic due to the steep, winding configuration of that road,” Siemers said.
Access to Circle Mountain will be limited to the rear entrance off North 3940 Road during the project.
Projects under design
Projects currently in the design phase include fence installation at Kiddie Park, which is located in Johnstone Park. Funding for this project was approved by voters in the March General Obligation Bond Election.
“We’ll be working on that in the Kiddie Park’s off-season and will hopefully have the fence installed for their spring opening,” Siemers said.
While the City of Bartlesville owns the property where Kiddie Park is located, Kiddie Park is maintained and operated by the Kiddie Park Board/organization.
Other work planned for Johnstone Park involves making improvements to the park entrance on north Cherokee Avenue.
“The project will be coordinated and bid with the Kiddie Park fence/entrance project and will consist of a mill and overlay of Cherokee Avenue from First Street to the Nellie Johnstone as well as an extension of Pathfinder from the trail head at the Cherokee Bridge north along the east side of Cherokee to just beyond the Nellie Johnstone,” Siemers said.
Funding for the improvements will come from the G.O. Bond’s Pathfinder funds and savings on half-cent sales tax street projects, Siemers said.
City staff are also working on the latest round of Preventative Maintenance street projects included in the 2018-19 Fiscal Year Half-Cent Sales Tax Capital Budget, he said.
“The Golf Course Bunker Repair project, approved as part of the 2018 G.O. Bond Election, has been advertised for bids,” he said. “Construction will likely begin on that project in February or March 2019.”
Also, consultants are currently working on the Price Fields Phase 3 Renovation and the East Downtown Storm Sewer projects, Siemers said.
“The downtown drainage project plans should be completed by the end of December, and the Price Fields design should be ready sometime in late spring 2019,” he said.
Projects recently completed
Projects recently wrapping up include:
- Tuxedo Boulevard roadway rehabilitation between the Caney River Bridge and Madison Boulevard
- Johnstone Avenue rehabilitation between 14th and 17th streets
- Downtown Landscaping on Osage Avenue between Second Street and Frank Phillips Boulevard
- Civitan Park shelter installation