BROOKINGS Are you dreading this years road construction season in Brookings? Well, you can turn that frown upside down, friend, because its going to be relatively quiet, according to Public Works Director John Thompson.
No, not at all, Thompson told the Brookings Register when asked about how intrusive the work would be. It should be nothing like when I first got here two years ago when we had 22nd Avenue (South).
That doesnt mean drivers, pedestrians and neighborhoods are in the clear, though: Thursday nights public open house on construction projects spelled out whats coming, and some of that includes mill-and-overlay work, road reconstruction, shared-used paths and intersection improvements. Specifics include:
Overlay/reconstruction projects
Thompson pointed out that this years mill and overlay projects will affect several roadways with the biggest one involving 17th Avenue South between Eighth Street South and 20th Street South.
There will be some traffic impacts there there will be times some driveways will be blocked off, but there traffic will still be able to drive through there, he said.
Meanwhile, full reconstruction is being planned for a pair of roadway segments: Third Avenue between 11th Street and Harvey Dunn and Seventh Avenue between Fifth Street South and Eighth Street South. The latter goes by Medary Elementary School.
Completion dates vary by project the full list of everything the city is doing can be found at https://brookingscommunityconstruction.info/ but all segments are planned to wrap up no later than November.
Slurry sealing
This is probably the most extensive of the citys endeavors this year, following a successful pilot project last year involving a portion of 22nd Avenue South.
Thompson said this years project will basically do all of downtown, Medary Avenue from Second Street South to 20th Street South, Orchard Drive from Medary Avenue east to 22nd Avenue South, Eighth Street South from Main Avenue South east to 22nd Avenue South along with other areas in the city.
Regarding downtown traffic concerns, he said the goal is to have it done at night so its very little traffic impacts. That said, the overall traffic disruption brought about by this type of work generally doesnt amount to more than two to three hours. There are also other benefits that make the slurry sealing method much more attractive than chip sealing, Thompson said.
We dont have to follow back up with sweeping the rocks off or anything like that, so its better for motorists, its better for motorcyclists you dont have to worry about the (stray) rocks, he said.
The latest the work is expected to go is November.
Shared use paths
Thompson said there are two such projects planned, and each will be 8 feet wide.
The first one is on 20th Street South from Main Avenue South east to the soccer fields past Medary Avenue South. This is expected to wrap up no later than Nov. 1.
The second one will be on 12th Street South from 17th Avenue South east to 22nd Avenue South. There will be traffic-slowing techniques employed in the vicinity of the Boys & Girls Club, including a degree of road narrowing, Thompson said. The window for the project is between June 2 and Aug. 15.
Intersection work
Two intersections will be focused on this year the 12th Street South and Main Avenue South intersection and the intersection of 20th Street South and 22nd Avenue South.
The scope of this years efforts on the former includes replacing the existing sidewalk ramps with ADA-compliant ramps, along with replacing the intersections traffic signals.
In the next few years, the intersection will be rebuilt. That work will, among other things, eliminate the rutting found on Main Avenue South in the vicinity of the intersection.
The latter project involves the eastern side of the intersection, widening the radius so trucks have an easier time of turning. Itll begin in August and wrap up in November.
This is just an additional improvement to that intersection, which is already a fairly new intersection, Thompson said.
The story of why the work is being done now rather than when the intersection of 20th Street South and 22nd Avenue South was first improved during the construction of Exit 130 on Interstate 29 in 2022-23 involves red tape, a compressed timeline, land-use designations and the potential loss of millions in grant dollars if they werent used in a timely manner.
Since the new interchange project came in under budget, the city has opted to use the leftover funds for the new work on the intersection.
BMU watermain
This is the fifth phase of a years-long project, and this portion focuses on installing 16-inch raw and treated water mains from the U.S. Highway 14 Bypass to the citys north wellfield. It will connect the wellfield with the new water treatment plant on 34th Avenue.
Its estimated completion date is in October.
So, there you have it. This years construction season in a nutshell, with the full scope available at https://brookingscommunityconstruction.info/. Its certainly not as aggressive as in recent years but dont get used to, folks.
In a couple of years, I cant say that the impact is always going to be this minimal to traffic, Thompson pointed out. We still do have to do 22nd Avenue South from Eighth (Street South) down to 20th (Street South), and then north on 22nd north of Sixth (Street).
Contact Mondell Keck at [email protected].
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