“We are really close to finishing the sidewalks, roughly only one block left,” he said. “But there is still a lot to be done after the walk is complete.”
Meszaros said Duckels Construction has moved the completion date back to possibly the first week of July. Most of the work is now complete between Fourth Street and the Fairfield parking lot at Second Street. He said there is also a delay for pipe work at First Street, but that the entire project, when complete, should run all the way to Watt’s Ranch Market.
“There is still a lot of little work to be done, but I think it should be done by early July,” Meszaros said.
He added that the city recently submitted paperwork for the right of way permits needed to get going on Phase II of the project, which will be done without grants from the state or federal governments. It would extend the sidewalks and curbs from Fourth Street west to 11th Street.
Meszatos said Phase I, which is the phase being worked on now, was budgeted originally for $700,000 with 80 percent funded by the federal government.
Phase II, which also has $700,000 budgeted to complete the curbs and sidewalks on the north side of Market Street to 11th Street, will likely be done completely through city funding.
“We have put in a grant application with the feds to help with Phase II,” Meszaros said. “But with such major projects in Glenwood Springs and Steamboat Springs, we are most likely to be a pretty low priority.
“The good thing about Phase II is that if we continue with the project to 11th Street this year, we only need one CDOT right-of-way permit as all of the engineering and surveying work has already been done and been approved,” he said. “I hope to hear from CDOT soon.
“The hope is that the entire north side of Market Street can be completed by September or October, before it gets cold; you can’t get hot mix in the fall if it’s too cold out.”
If the town gets the permit soon, as Meszaros hopes, the town can go right to Duckels while they are still here and work out the rest of the Market Street project to 11th Street.
“We had budgeted $700,000 for Phase I and $700,000 for Phase II,” Meszaros said. “Eighty percent of Phase I was financed through the feds, and it looks like that part of the project will be completed for roughly $620,000 to $650,000 total.
“If we can complete Phase II for that amount, with the federal government contribution on Phase I, we may be able to complete the entire project at a cost of roughly a half million to us,” Meszaros said. “I don’t believe there will be any more intersection work; just sidewalks.”
Asked about the roughness of the intersection work at Fifth and Eighth streets now, Meszaros said that when the entire project is done, the pavement crews will come in and pull up much of what is now in place at the intersections and lay pavement, which should be smooth.
“All of these small little projects would be way too expensive if we had the pavement trucks come in for each little project,” he said. “Now, when the work is done, we will call in the pavement trucks and have it all done at one time. That will eliminate the rough spots, particularly at the intersections of Market Street with Fifth and Eighth streets.”
