Project of the Week: Jacolyn Drive NW from Midway Drive to E Avenue

Neighbors along Jacolyn Drive were dealing with a road that had deteriorated so badly, even a re-surfacing would not have been enough to fix it.

So the City built them an entirely new one instead.

Crews this week are putting the finishing touches on Jacolyn Drive NW from Midway Drive NW to E Avenue NW, which features an entirely reconstructed roadway, new water main, stormwater subdrain, and more. This week, the contractor finished a few final sections of sidewalk before placing sod.

While watching the work on Wednesday morning, several neighbors commented on how grateful they were for the improvements.

Before:

After:

"I noticed a lot of support for this project," said Project Engineer Edgard Verdugo. "Maintaining access can be difficult, especially when the project requires complete reconstruction of the street. However, I think we found the right balance of established construction practices to make sure that residents were not impacted by work for extended periods of time."

Verdugo added that the street was paved one side at a time, in order to minimize impacting residents.

Construction Project Manager Michael Roberts said the full reconstruction also allowed an opportunity to make infrastructure repairs.

"In this case, the Utilities Department found the need to replace the water main, and this project was an opportunity to do so," he says. "We also added stormwater subdrain to the corridor, to ensure the foundation can properly drain, which extends the life of the pavement."

Investing in the future

Residents often ask how streets are selected for repair each year. The City uses a 10-year management plan using pavement condition data collected on every street in Cedar Rapids. The data is collected by a vehicle that drives the surface of the roads and collects data on texture, pavement distress, and roughness.

Fresh data is collected every two years, and the plan is updated accordingly. Key Goals include:

• Fully reconstruct some of the roads in worst condition
• Perform less costly preventative maintenance to extend the life of additional roads, investing in those roads before they reach the end of their service life
• Make improvements to residential neighborhoods that have long been neglected
  
  

"The City is very grateful for residents' support of the Paving for Progress program," says Doug Wilson, Engineering Manager for Paving for Progress. "Without the local option sales tax being approved by voters twice, the program wouldn't exist, and streets like Jacolyn Drive would continue to deteriorate.

"Instead, we have been able to repair so many streets over the past 12 years," he says. "Residents tell us that they are very appreciative of the City working on their street, and of the efforts by the City staff to communicate with the neighborhood throughout the work process."

You can learn more about the Jacolyn Drive project here. Learn more about Paving for Progress here.

Project of the Week puts a spotlight on work happening all over the City every day. Each week, we will take a closer look at projects that are investing in our community's roads, trails, Flood Control System, and more. See previous installments here:

August 27: Blairs Ferry Road Sidewalk Infill
August 20: Downtown Railroad Crossing Repair
August 13: 3^rd Street SW
August 6: CIPP Sewer Repairs
July 30: 6^th Avenue SW from 1^st Street to 2^nd Street
July 24: 4^th Street Trail Extension
July 17: 12^th Street SE/Coe Road
July 10: 34^th Street SE
July 3: Roundhouse
June 25: Mount Vernon Road
June 18: Grande Avenue SE
June 11: O Avenue NW Time Check Elevation Project
June 5: Nassau Street
May 28: Cedar Lake
May 21: Tree of Five Seasons Park
May 14: 20th Street NW
May 7: 18th Avenue SW
April 30: Alliant Energy LightLine™
April 23: 42nd Street
April 16: The 3rd Avenue Bridge