Council opts for minor street repairs

The City Council passed on extensive repairs to several streets Tuesday night, citing budget shortfalls as the major reason.

The council unanimously voted to not award $129,509.50 for extensive roadwork and instead recommended staff make minor repairs to the streets. Council members Dave McAtlin and Brian Wedemeyer were absent from the meeting. City staff investigated roadway segments on Pima Drive South, Kiowa Boulevard North at Lake Havasu Avenue and Mesquite Avenue at Acoma Boulevard following two water line breaks that occurred in 2008.

Interim Public Works Director Mark Clark told the council Tuesday, during the council’s regular work session, the estimated $129,000 bid to do the work was unnecessary.

“I do feel you could easily choose to reject this item,” he told the council. “We have had a few complaints from residents in the area and there is some chatter to the street but we don’t feel it’s worth the expense and payback if you will.”

Clark said the majority of the work would take place on Pima Drive South, but council and staff agreed the damage to the roads were not severe enough to warrant making costly repairs at this time.

“Given the budget concerns and other issues, I would be very comfortable choosing to not award this bid and deferring the maintenance at this time, Clark said.

Council members Lee Barnes, Margaret Nyberg and Don Callahan said they drove through the streets this past week and agreed the major repairs were not needed.

Clark said city staff would most likely place minor patchwork items, worth less than $20,000, out for bid and make safety repairs after the work is awarded.

Interim City Manager Charlie Cassens said recent roadwork changes on Mulberry Avenue and McCulloch Boulevard have made the intersection safer.

City staff installed bump outs at the intersection in December in response to a personal injury accident sustained by Tom Kirchner, 62. Kirchner was struck by a Chevrolet Blazer while crossing McCulloch Boulevard near Mulberry Avenue in Dec. 2007.

“I surely hope they do something, if not medians than something else,” Kirchner said in 2008. “They need to do something.”

After installing the bump outs, public works staff conducted a traffic study regarding speed and volume at the intersection.

“The work done to provide the pedestrian refuge areas, which we’ve called the bump outs and the narrowing of the roadways, has resulted in a significant decrease in speeds,” he said. “In addition the volume of traffic … has increased over the volumes measured in January 2008 and August 2009.”

The report indicated that from 1999 to 2002, traffic averaged 28.5 miles per hour at the intersection. After installation, the report indicated the average speed has been reduced to 22.5 miles per hour. The speed limit at the intersection is 25 miles per hour.

“These are significant speed reductions and I think that project has achieved its original goal of traffic calming in that area and I think once folks get used to them being there, they’ll quit running into them,” Cassens said, referring to two minor collisions reported on the bump outs since they were installed. “We’re going to take steps to keep that from happening again.”

You can contact the reporter at nbruttell@havasunews.com