And the scenic route is set to get a wider paved trail

By Cathy Hay

Albert Lea’s iconic roadway suffers from broken and cracked pavement dating back to 1971, water and sewer lines 75 to 100 years old, and flooding problems after heavy rains.

Estimated to cost $3.19 million, a reconstruction of Lakeview Boulevard, from Abbott Street to Wedge Street, has been schedule for 2015.

The Albert Lea City Council accepted the project report Monday and set a public hearing for Dec. 8.

The project includes removing the existing pavement, repairing water and sewer lines, improving drainage runoff, building a multi-use path and rebuilding the road to meet state and federal standards. The city will also look at further ways to treat stormwater runoff to prevent sediment and nutrient pollutants from washing into Fountain Lake.

An 8-foot-wide concrete shared-user paved trail will replace the existing 5-foot-wide sidewalk on the east side of the street along Fountain Lake.

The project is expected to start in spring and finish in November 2015. Public Works Director Steve Jahnke said the project may be broken into two phases to minimize traffic disruption: Lakeview from Abbott to Sunset Street, and then Lakeview from Sunset to Wedge Street.

City Manager Chad Adams, in an email, said, “There will be periods when pedestrians will not be able to walk along the lake but the intent is to have a temporary sidewalk available the majority of the time. This may be gravel for good periods of time.”

Dock renters may also have trouble accessing their lakefront spaces along the construction route, especially those who usually drive in and need parking.

“There will be periods when it will be difficult to get to the docks. We are currently planning to make people aware of the difficulty of getting to the docks and giving them the option to rent or not. They will have to understand that there may be periods when the boat is not accessible. A lot of the docks are of residents in the area so they may still want to rent the space and walk to the dock,” Adams said.

The city is planning to have the segment from Sunset Street to Abbott Street completed prior to school starting in September 2015, provided that the school district sticks to its traditional calendar. If the street is still under construction, the city manager said the detours will need to address bus and parent traffic. One goal of the project is to improve pedestrian safety where Abbott, Lakeview and Vine streets intersect.

The $3.19 million cost includes funding from:

Federal programs of $977,000.

State programs of $796,000.

City funds of $1.22 million including $850,000 in bonding.

Taxes assessed to property owners, $192,000.

Because the curb is less than 50 years old, half of the cost will be paid by the city.  The other half of the cost will be assessed to the residents living along the west-south side of Lakeview Boulevard. The proposed assessment rate is $75.14 per front foot and $48.84 per foot if a side credit is applied. Following city policy, the assessments will be paid back on property taxes over 10 years. The interest rate will be based on bonding in 2015.

 

Project by the numbers: 

34 feet: Width of new street face-to-face of curb

8 feet: Width of concrete multi-use path along the lake

3 feet: Minimum width of boulevard between path and street

8 feet: Width of parking lane on lake side to provide access

900 feet: Length of storm sewers for runoff to be replaced

2,300 feet: Length of storm sewers for runoff to be added

1,850 feet: Length of water pipes to be replaced

2,985 feet: Length of wastewater pipes to be lined to prevent problems