Urbana to spend $301K on road, curb repairs

A pothole, several inches deep, along James Avenue. Urbana’s city council improved a $301,699.63 contract with A&B Asphalt Corporation for this years asphalt project, which will also include curb and gutter replacement. Bill Lackey/Staff

A pothole, several inches deep, along James Avenue. Urbana’s city council improved a $301,699.63 contract with A&B Asphalt Corporation for this years asphalt project, which will also include curb and gutter replacement. Bill Lackey/Staff

Urbana will resurface, seal or maintain at least 11 roads, as well as replace a number of curbs and gutters throughout the city as part of its 2017 asphalt program.

City council has green-lighted a contract of more than $301,000 with A&B Asphalt Corp. to take on the project, which will include resurfacing Community Drive, West Ward Street and James Avenue. Expenses for crack sealing work on eight roads and curb and gutter replacements were also included in the agreement.

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The contract is in the process of being signed, with the program projected to start in the beginning of June. Base funding for the project is $200,000 with an additional $82,700 coming from the newly implemented stormwater fund. The rest of the money coming from both the water and sewer funds, according to a March 13 council packet.

The project is expected to take one to two months to complete and will begin with curb and gutter work, which is expected to take a few weeks, according to Community Development Manager Doug Crabill.

Curb and gutter replacements and repairs were the responsibility of homeowners, Crabill said, but are now being tackled by the city due to the stormwater fund. That was created earlier this year as a new utility fee of $5 per month per water meter will go into effect on next month’s utility bills.

“The curbs are really just in such deplorable shape around town that this is kind of a way to start chipping away some of that,” he said.

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Road repairs are projected to start in the middle of June and won’t have a major impact on residents, according to City Engineer Tyler Bumbalough. Access to businesses and homes is guaranteed, he said.

“Where there is homeowners and businesses involved, we do have to maintain access to driveways,” he said.

Paul Waldsmith, who is the CEO of the Champaign Family YMCA off of Community Drive, said he’s not worried about the construction affecting his business.

“There may be some short-term inconvenience to our members, we will work with them and the city to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible,” he said.

Waldsmith, who has been working in the area for four years, added that the road has been patched every year he has been there and while the road is passable, he’s glad that it’s being repaved.

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Billy Moore, who has lived off of West Ward Street for about 30 years, said it’s about time that the road is resurfaced. He’s not worried about any personal inconvenience and said that prolonged use of the road has caused some extended wear.

There will be no major road closings and in certain cases some roads will be temporarily closed to through traffic. In cases of fresh asphalt, flaggers and construction signs will be used to guide traffic.

“It’s a very mobile process and when you come up on paving you just have to be aware that you have to pay attention to the workers,” said Bumbalough.

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