Some trees will be removed
By Angie Landsverk
Evans Street will have two, 11-foot lanes with 5-foot paved shoulders on each side after it is reconstructed this year.
The residents and engineers favored that option, Justin Berrens told the common council on Jan. 15.
Berrens, the city’s public works director, presented an update about the project that evening.
Mayor Brian Smith said the design makes sense.
“You can walk on either side,” he said.
A white painted line will separate the paved shoulders from the travel lanes.
Evans Street will be reconstructed from Churchill to Berlin streets.
The street currently has two, 11-foot lanes with shoulders, Berrens said.
He said the shoulder varies with some parts of it gravel and others grass.
Two design options were presented during a November public informational meeting.
The other one was for two, 11-foot travel lanes, with an 8-foot paved path on one side.
There would have been a 4-foot wide grass terrace between the path and travel lane.
The path would have likely gone on the north side of Evans Street.
Those were the two options presented following the initial public informational meeting about the project.
That meeting took place in the fall of 2017.
Four design scenarios were presented during that meeting.
Half of those who attended it favored a design with paved shoulders.
The other half was split between having sidewalk or an asphalt trail.
Last November, Berrens said sidewalk had been eliminated as a possibility due to cost and not having enough room for it.
Adding 5-foot paved shoulders on each side of the street will widen it.
Berrens said some trees will need to be removed.
The trees needing to be removed are mostly on the south side of the street, he said.
“It will be done by city crews within the next couple months,” Berrens said.
The overall design is at 50 percent, and he said the city is within the project’s budget estimate of $680,000.
“The goal is to get as cost effective as possible,” Berrens said.
The project design is expected to be completed by the end of February.
Bids will then be sought, with construction beginning as soon as the weather is nice, he said.
During construction, Evans Street will be closed to through traffic.
“We expect at least two months of work,” Berrens said.