After more than $1 million and 16 weeks of work, a new and improved Frank Avenue is open again for through traffic.

Wednesday, August 29, 2001

After more than $1 million and 16 weeks of work, a new and improved Frank Avenue is open again for through traffic.

Project engineer Jamie Mehle said work remains on smoothing and planting grass and trees on boulevards, but the blacktop surface on the street is finished.

&uot;It’s gone well. We’re ahead of schedule and I think it looks great,&uot; Mehle said.

The street also features new curbs, gutters and driveway approaches. Drivers may also notice that the street is wider by six feet so residents can park on both sides of the street without impeding traffic.

Mehle said Frank Avenue residents were patient and understanding during the construction.

&uot;Everyone put up with some inconvenience,&uot; he said. &uot;For about seven weeks, people couldn’t get to their driveways, but hardly anyone complained. I think people in the neighborhood could see the work needed to be done.&uot;

The most time-consuming aspect of the project was the replacement of utilities, Mehle said. The street now has a new sanitary sewer, storm sewer and water main, replacing lines that were well over 80 years old.

&uot;The lines were ancient, and they had a lot of problems with tree roots, mineral deposits, settled spots and broken joints,&uot; Mehle said.

Workers also installed sump-pump service connections and drain tile to extend the life of the street. Mehle said crews will return in the spring to lay another two inches of blacktop to bring the street up to gutter level.

&uot;There’s a gap right now between the gutter and the new blacktop, but we have to let that settle and go through the freeze-thaw cycle before we can do another layer,&uot; he said.

Because the street is wider, crews had to cut down more than 60 trees along the six-block stretch. Mehle said the city parks department will replant as many as possible.

&uot;That was tough for some residents, to lose those trees,&uot; Mehle said.

About a quarter of the project’s cost was assessed to the homeowners along Frank Avenue, Mehle said. The rest, about $800,000, will come from city coffers.

Reconstructing Frank Avenue was the biggest and most expensive of five street projects the city had planned for the summer. Along with blacktop overlay of many residential streets in the northeast area, the city also replaced sections of Maplehill Drive and Fountain Street. Plans to resurface several downtown streets have been pushed back to next season.