City considering options as street projects remain unfinished

Madison City officials will be considering their options going forward as portions of their system improvement projects remain unfinished.

Weston Blasius with Banner Associates, the city’s Engineer, and Ryan Hegg, Director of Engineering and Community Development for the city, provided an update on the city’s projects to city commissioners on Monday.  Blasius said that in the Phase 1B project, which is 20-blocks of work being completed in the northwest area of the city, the contractor – J&J Earthworks of Milbank – has completed all of the utility work, and some of the paving of the streets.  But, Blasius said, that not all of the paving and surfacing work in this area will be completed yet this fall.  

Blasius said that it was a surprise to get that news from the contractor on Monday.  He said that a temporary surface – like asphalt milling – will need to be provided if the paving cannot be done.  Blasius said that the concrete work on driveways and sidewalks in this area will continue as long as possible, weather permitting.    Hegg said that the final completion date for the Phase 1B project is November 15th, so he said that they will need to discuss possible liquidating damages for the contractor for the work that is still outstanding. He said that in the contract, it is 17-hundred dollars per working day for work that isn’t completed.  

As far as the project on Northwest 9th Street, Blasius said that there could be some difficulty in getting that roadway usable before winter.

Blasius said that an alternative would be closing portions of this area of 9th Street through the winter.

Mayor Roy Lindsay said he supported the idea of possibly keeping the street closed through the winter in order to avoid further damage and additional cost to the city.  Commissioner Jeremiah Corbin said he doesn’t want to close the street if at all possible.

Ryan Hegg said that no work occurred on the 9th Street project for two weeks while the contractor waited for the gas company to move a couple lines.  Overall, he said he feels that the city made every effort to keep contractors on track, but it hasn’t all worked out.

City Administrator Jameson Berreth said that city officials had just received information from the contractors on the status of the projects Monday so they would need to take some time and explore their options before making a decision on how to proceed.  

November 9, 2022