JG-TC.com > News > Mattoon nears end of 2009 sidewalk work

TODAY'S HEADLINES

SPECIAL SECTION

ONLINE POLL

ONLINE EXTRAS

Shop Smart, Shop Local

SITE TOOLS

OTHER LINKS

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Lee Enterprises

Wednesday, August 26, 2009 8:55 PM CDT
Mattoon nears end of 2009 sidewalk work

By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
hmeeker@jg-tc.com

MATTOON — The last sections of sidewalk work for the 2009-10 fiscal year are ready for City Council approval.

Mattoon Public Works Director Dave Wortman offered plans for sidewalk replacement along DeWitt Avenue from Logan to 14th Street and the south side of Champaign Avenue from 19th to 32nd Street during Tuesday’s Public Works Advisory Board meeting. He said this would complete the year on sidewalk repairs, excluding a separate contract to create new concrete sections for worn or uneven brick sidewalks.

“These are the last pieces of the $500,000 sidewalk program for this year,” Wortman said. City infrastructure improvement money from a sales tax kicker are paying for the work.

A private contractor has completed much of the sidewalk replacement along many sections of Western and Broadway avenues as part of the Walkable Community program. This is designed to create walking routes with disability access compliance in all four corners of the city through 2011. This only replaces walk sections in need of repair along the designated routes, not the entire length of walks.

But two issues have come up on sidewalks in recent weeks.

One involves replacement of the old brick sections. Wortman explained the city will only replace sections in need of repair along the Walkable Routes. But concrete, not the old bricks, will be used for the replacement sections. There is no plan to replace brick sections still level and well-maintained.

Public Works Board Chairman Merle Lowry said he received some calls from residents who thought that the old bricks, some dating back many decades, will be used again. Others wondered what will happen to the old bricks. The city has contracted with an out-of-state company to tear up those bricks and sell them privately.

The other issue over the sidewalk work concerns labor costs. Mattoon City Commissioner Chris Rankin has argued the city would save money if it used Public Works employees instead of a contractor as hired for this round of sidewalk work.

The board members have brought up the same concerns and have suggested a future test of public versus private labor. But that might not happen this year.

“I think it is best to do a test section next year and compare costs then,” said Wortman, adding the last sections could be completed with a contractor.

Contact Herb Meeker at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.

Add your comments

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login? (requires cookies)
	Forgot Your Password?

Not already registered?
Then click Here.

Comment policy:

JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.

In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.

We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.

No comment may contain:

* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.

If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.

Hammbone wrote on Aug 26, 2009 9:37 PM:

" A test section was done sometime back.City employees did in fact do some of the sidewalk work on Champaign Ave.From 1712 west,north side of the street. Rain puddles,dips and a very uneven surface is the result. A hurry up and get it done attitude,push ,push hurry up ,makes for a very poor job.Dips cause water to pool and in the winter time a sheet of ice isnt the best thing to try and walk on. property line issues are not followed, Part of my property line is covered by a side walk. Give them and inch and they take a mile. I have a property line marker staked into a slab of concrete. The poor fellow doing the surveying work got on the phone to talk to who ever about the issue,nothing was done. But Hay we got a new sidewalk. And some that go nowhere. Some that empty out at a 45% angle right into the intersection of the street. I'm tired of having to pay for sloppy work,and the careless attitude of the city employees... "

Rohn Gordon wrote on Aug 27, 2009 8:02 PM:

" The other day there was an article that talked about a picket fence blocking the right of way some where her in town, can some one please give me the URL to that. Thank You Rohn "

kamfong wrote on Aug 28, 2009 7:44 AM:

" Rohn,go to archives,type in (fence ordinance).4 recent stories pop up.(easier than urls to me) "