By BECKY KISER
Hays Post
The “logical recourse is reconstruction at this point.”
John Braun, project manager for the city of Hays, told city commissioners Thursday night numerous patches have been made to 43rd and 45th Streets when they were constructed in 2000 in conjunction with the Walmart Supercenter, 4301 Vine.
“For various reasons the pavement has prematurely failed,” reported Braun. “The most logical course of action at this point is to remove the existing pavement, stabilize the road base, and place new concrete pavement.” The existing driveways and curb and gutter will remain.
This project was originally scheduled for construction in 2019 but bids for other projects have come in under budget, according to Braun, allowing for reconstruction of the two streets to be accelerated. The pavement will be reinstalled on both streets from Vine Street west to the end of the existing pavement.
Vogts Parga Construction, LLC, Newton, was the low bidder at $876,324.12, which will be funded out of Commission Capital Reserves.
A new sidewalk along the north side of 43rd will be installed and paid for with Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) funds of $27,212.40. The sidewalk will serve the proposed convention center in that area, Braun explained, therefore meeting the qualification to utilize CVB monies.
Construction of 45th Street will begin shortly and is scheduled to be completed by Thanksgiving; 43rd Street reconstruction will begin after the first of the year as winter weather allows and is to be done by July 1, 2019.
Braun emphasized the pavement reconstruction is separate from the planned extension of 43rd Street by developers to serve the planned Hilton Garden Inn and convention center west of Walmart.
“They have the same engineer as we do. Briggs Design Group is working for the developer to do the extension of the road and utilities for the Hilton Garden Inn development. So the coordination is hand-in-glove due to that. Our construction would be done well before Hilton Garden Inn and convention center opens for business,” Braun told commissioners.
Although she voted in favor of the bid, Sandy Jacobs said she “resented” having to vote yes.
“These streets should have lasted, and with the code the way it is now, they will last longer than these were. We’re having to do this because the base was put in improperly,” she noted.
The construction project calls for 45th Street to be shut down entirely and be rebuilt in one phase.
“Because of all the other businesses on 43rd Street and the access that’s required, it will have to be reconstructed in several phases,” Braun said, “but we would always provide access to every business along 43rd. He added that the Walmart lot would be accessible from 43rd but traffic would have to exit onto 45th, which will have been completed. “That will ease congestion in the construction zone.”