Work has begun on Smith Street in Truesdale.
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Work has begun on Smith Street in Truesdale. The improvements to the road have been a long time coming as the project was approved at the June 26 Truesdale Board of Aldermen meeting and a bid was awarded to TS Banze Construction.
Crews will be working to reinforce the road surface as there is heavy industrial traffic in the area and it has begun to deteriorate. They will also be replacing ditches on the sides of the road with storm drains.
“We are reinforcing it because of heavy truck traffic,” said Mayor Jerry Cannon.
According to Cannon, the project is being split into three phases, with the first one focusing on the section of Smith Street from Laura Street to just past the MaryLou Center to the south. The other two phases will continue the resurfacing of the road east, first to Depot Street, and then to Water Street, where Smith Street ends. There are no planned improvements to the western portion of Smith Street between Laura Street and Bolm Lane, according to Cannon.
Cannon also said that the road will largely be concrete.
“Some of it will be dug up and resurfaced, but it will be concrete,” said Cannon. “Especially phase one, will be concrete.”
At the Sept. 11 board meeting several residents on Smith Street had questions about what the project would mean for their street access.
Project Engineer Bart Korman with Lewis-Bade Inc. said the impact of road closures should be limited for the homeowners whose properties are on the section of the road being worked on during phase one.
Cannon said the project was planned to be one lane at a time, to keep the road open to through traffic as much as possible, although there will be short times that the road will be closed in front of homes.
Korman said during those times, homeowners should still be able to exit their homes and reach open road through yards, as the drainage ditch on the side of Smith Street is being replaced with a storm drain and will be passable by car.
Cannon said at worst some residents may have to park on Depot Street for a short time but in total “the road will be closed for a very limited amount of time.”
He went on to say the only time the road may be completely impassable would be later in the project when the concrete’s curing process is taking place.
Cannon said phase one of the project is expected to be completed by TS Banze later this fall, and that the later phases of the project are largely dependent on weather.
He also expressed his thanks to the “gracious” residents who helped the city to acquire the necessary right of way to take care of the road improvements.
