Pottawatomie County Commissioners have awarded a bid for reconstruction of Wolverine Road from U.S. 177 to Kickapoo Street, but the project is on hold because of two other priorities.
District 1 Commissioner Melissa Dennis says a bridge east of SH 18 on Hazel Dell Road between Musson and Kings Road is out and concerns about a second bridge on old U.S. 270 have become priorities. Both occurred last week.
She said Hazel Dell Road was shut down after the bridge had to be closed due to heavy rains on Sunday night, July 12. Concern about the bridge on old U.S. 270 where the road goes under I-40 just was discovered last Thursday, July 16.
As of late last Thursday, she said, “Don’t know what we have to do. That road is not shut down yet,” she stressed.
Dennis said, “The Hazel Dell bridge is a 12 foot box at the bridge and that’s a pretty good size area. I’m hoping to get some state aid to help with that because it’s considered a collector road. I have no idea how long that will be shut down.”
Concerning the Hazel Dell bridge, she said, “I have no idea what it will cost, but I expect it to be $100,000 or more. I hope to get the District Attorney and the State Auditor to allow me to waive competitive bidding so I can get it done quicker.”
Dennis figures the bridge on old U.S. 270 will cost more than $50,000 to repair. Again, she plans to seek authorization from the DA and the State Auditor to waive competitive bidding.
On the Wolverine Road reconstruction, Dennis said Haskell Lemon was awarded the bid for $1.2 million. “County sales tax money is paying for that project,” she noted.
Once she gives notice to proceed to the contractor, the company has 60 business days to complete the work. She’s not sure when she will give notice to proceed because of the other two priorities and her crews still have to do some ditch work, she said.
Dennis said some areas along Wolverine Road have silted in since her crews began due to the rainfall. “We have extra work to do to get some dirt off of there,” she stated.
The project will consist of Haskell Lemon putting down 4 ½ inches of asphalt, gravel shoulders and striping it. “We’ll Geotech the road to see about the moisture content. It has to be 95 percent Proctor, that is 95 percent moisture,” she explained.
“If it’s too dry, we’ll add moisture. If it’s too wet, we’ll have to add rock. We’ll have to put in a French Drain on part of the road where a spring has popped up,” Dennis said.
“We’ve added no rock to this road at all. Engineers said compaction rate is where it should be,” she concluded.