Projects in District 2 continue to progress. The much anticipated asphalt job on Midwest between Simmons and Waterloo was completed June 19. The next phase of the 5 mile project is clearing trees from right-of-way on Forrest Hills (No Name) between Pine and Midwest, in
preparation to pave that mile.
The two NRCS projects I previously wrote about were finished June 20. Hundreds of tons of rip rap were placed at two county bridges to prevent soil erosion. The county’s in-kind contribution was in providing a dozer and a trackhoe, as well as employees to operate
them.
In June we received only $22,236.39 for “Maintenance and Operations.” This amount is the second lowest monthly income we have had since May of 2011. This crimped our ability somewhat to accomplish everything we wanted but we were still able to mow roadsides, trim foliage, fill potholes with asphalt, grade and rebuild damaged roads.
Bids will be opened June 29th for the construction of a new bridge for University Ave. just east of Midwest. The bids are for a prefabricated, concrete structure with wing walls. We will provide the man-power and equipment to remove the old bridge, clean out the creek
bed and pour concrete footing for the new bridge. The contractor will provide the prefabricated structure and have company engineers on hand to coordinate with the county’s engineer to ensure the structure is properly placed.
We have yet to hear if we have been awarded a Community Development Block Grant to repave Pine from Prairie Grove to Camp. Ordinarily grant awards are announced the first of June, but this year, since the Oklahoma Department of Commerce is transitioning to accepting
applications and announcing results on their website, the results have been delayed until the end of June.
Because of an increase in county population as indicated by the 2010 census, Logan County will be awarded additional major collector status for several miles of roadway. In anticipation of this, we have been conducting strategic planning and traffic counts for several weeks to
determine which roads to submit to the Federal Highway Administration for this classification. When applying for funding, it is advantageous for a road to be designated as a major collector road.
The environmental study being conducted by ODOT for repaving Douglas from Waterloo to Forrest Hills is in its third month. This multi-step procedure is scheduled to be completed at the end of November. After the environmental study is completed the project will be “shovel
ready” and go out to bid in 2013. It will be funded through state and federal money.
Engineers hired by the county are in the process of drawing plans for paving Charter Oak from I-35 to Douglas. The engineering will be completed this year and paid for with $50,000 allocated through the state County Improvements for Roads and Bridges fund. Additionally,
$583,200 has been obtained through a Surface Transportation Program for construction costs in 2016. We hope to get the funding amount increased and the time schedule moved up.
For more details about any of these projects, feel free to call me on my cell phone at 650-0384.
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