Initial
required undercutting and backfill earthwork on the south side of President
Street has been completed. Crews have been installing pipe slope drains
this week that will allow for continued drainage of stormwater away from the
current President St. roadway. This is important since additional fill
material will continue to be placed and stacked along the south side of
President Street to obtain the new roadway elevation and provide surcharge for
settlement consolidation. These crews have also removed the concrete
median at the old President Street and General McIntosh intersection and placed
roadway subgrade and stone base material on the north side of President Street
to accommodate the upcoming traffic shift. It is currently proposed for
this traffic shift to take place during the second half of July based on paving
resources availability. This traffic shift involves the removal of the
left turn lane from east bound President Street onto the Truman Parkway (south
bound). A detour to Truman Parkway (south bound) from downtown will be
via Wheaton Street to Bee Road. This closure and detour will remain for
the majority of the project duration, but will allow for maintaining four lanes
of traffic (two in each direction) for President Street east and west bound
thru traffic.
Utility
line installations along Randolph Street (water, sewer, and storm drain)
continue, as well as installation of the new 24” water main along the east side
of General McIntosh Boulevard. Once new water main utility lines are
installed and connections to existing lines are made on the east side of
General McIntosh, crews will be able to begin undercutting and backfill
earthwork operations necessary along the new General McIntosh Boulevard
corridor and location of the new President Street and General McIntosh
Boulevard intersection.
A
forth crew continues working on the installation of jack and bore steel casings
underneath the railroad tracks, just south of President Street and west of
Truman Parkway. This week and the next, they will be getting set up to
begin the bores under the CSX railroad, existing Bilbo storm drain box culvert,
and future Bilbo Canal.
A fifth crew will begin work soon on the future Bilbo Canal
and bridge construction. Construction will initially begin on a section
of the canal located south of President Street. Materials are arriving
on-site, and a crane used for installation will be arriving onsite next week.
