National Avenue could open for traffic next week

This one-block section of National Avenue, which has been largely closed since early October, could open to traffic sometime next week.(File Photo)

With one final task to accomplish, National Avenue may be open for traffic next week.

Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin said he received word from the contractor, Rogers & Sons Concrete of Fort Scott, saying they plan to resurface the section of missing asphalt in the 700 block of South National Avenue either Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the weather.

The one-block section of National Avenue was open for two days at the end of January before being closed again for safety reasons. Fort Scott Public Works Director Eric Bailey said the wedges constructed by the contractor to ease the transition from existing pavement to the lowered area and back was not sufficient for the amount of traffic on the roadway.

According to Martin, the contractor is still ahead of schedule and has time remaining in the 150-day agreement. The company bid $243,989 on the project, well under the engineer's estimate of $455,000.

The 700 block of South National was closed in October 2010 to replace the storm drainage system and a deteriorating retaining wall.

The project consists of replacing the two-by three-foot storm box, which had collapsed due to flooding the last several summers. Bailey said the box is being replaced with a 54-inch culvert pipe on the west side of National Avenue, which will tie into a 60-inch culvert pipe running beneath the road. The goal, according to Bailey, is to move the stormwater away from the road and down into Buck Run Creek.

In addition to the new pipes, the retaining wall on the east side of National Avenue is being rebuilt and curb inlets installed on either side of National Avenue.

Although the city is making plans to resurface the road from Sixth to 13th streets, the current project will have to be completed before that takes place. Under the contract, Rogers & Sons Concrete is responsible for the paving the section that has been removed.