Haskell Lemon Construction Company is scheduled to begin work this week on Douglas from Waterloo to Forrest Hills. The first phase of the work will be to grind up and re-establish areas of pavement which have road base failure. New asphalt will then be applied to the entire road surface. Plans are to keep the road open to traffic during construction. However, we suggest that those who do not live on Douglas please find an alternate route. Heavy traffic on Douglas will cause delays for motorists as well as for construction crews. The project is scheduled to be finished by Nov. 3, 2013.
Logan County Commissioner Mike Pearson
Although it seems like this project has been in the planning stage for some time, it has actually moved along quite well for a federally funded project. The process began in October 2009, when the Federal Highway Administration accepted our application to reclassify Douglas as a Major Collector road. This classification was needed for the road to qualify for federal funding. In February 2010, a programming resolution was passed through a County Commissioners’ meeting and submitted to ODOT. Since the repaving is in the same footprint of the existing roadway, the environmental study was simpler, though it still required nine months.
In December, 2009, we were able to secure federal money through the Surface Transportation Program (STP) administered by the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma (ACCO), with funding scheduled for 2014. Since federal money will only pay 80% of the total cost, we obtained 20% in matching funds through the County Improvements for Roads and Bridges (CIRB) program.
In February 2012, we were able to move the project to 2013 by getting the federal portion approved for funding through the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). This program is administered by the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG).
TIP funding is based on a point system and competition is stiff among various entities. Douglas scored high based upon an average daily traffic count of 4,451; an accident severity rate in which from 2007-2011 there were 5 accidents resulting in injury and 13 accidents resulting in property damage; air quality rated “moderate” and a road surface rated as “poor.”
To view a flow chart of the steps to get a bridge or road completed when using state or federal money, go to www.bit.ly/WWLbct
If you would like additional information during the construction process, feel free to call 650-0384 or the District 2 shop at 282-3405.
This page really has all of the information and facts I
needed about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
Any chance those of us on Westminster will ever have our paved road back?