Crews will begin replacing water lines, perhaps as early as Thursday, to accompany a full rebuild of U.S. 54 through Iola.
Workers began erecting barricades limiting eastbound 54 traffic (Madison Avenue) to a single lane from west of State Street to the Washington Avenue intersection.
Excavation equipment also is on site.
Cross traffic on Washington, Walnut and Chestnut may be affected during the initial phase, as will parking on the south side of the 100 block of West Madison.
The $4 million water line project is projected to take about seven months to complete, and will look a bit different than similar projects, Assistant City Administrator Corey Schinstock said.
That’s because crews will rely on directional boring, through which crews will dig a single pothole at each intersection, and then bore horizontally to the next block to extend the new water line.
The advantage is that it tears up less of the road, Schinstock explained to City Council members in January.
He expects crews to complete a block or two at a time, and then “stair-step” the entire 17-block stretch.
A rough timeline will have the initial phase wrapped up by early April, have much of downtown completed by early May, the stretch extending to the intersection of First Street by mid-June, and for the eastern portions finished by the end of summer.
Water service may be disrupted, but typically only for short periods, Schinstock noted, as crews tie in the new water main to ancillary service lines.
The city will meet with business owners prior to the connections to coordinate ideal times for the disruption, which he expects would take an hour or two.
Those connections would likely occur early in the mornings, “or whenever is convenient” for business owners, Schinstock told Council members in January.
THE 54 rebuild is expected to hit high gear in either May or early June, depending on how long the bidding process takes.
Because the rebuild involves some Kansas Department of Transportation funding, KDOT is in charge of the bidding, Schinstock noted.
Schinstock hoped bids would be let in March, although it may not occur until April.
It typically takes about a month to six weeks after bids are let for the approval process to be complete for work to begin.
