by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
A feasibility study for a major roadway project in Sartell was approved by the Sartell City Council at its Nov. 14 meeting, and a public hearing for the project was set for the Monday, Dec. 12, council meeting.
At the public hearing, special assessments for the project will be open for discussion. The project is estimated to cost about $4.1 million.
The project involves the extension and reconstruction of Fourth Avenue S. from Heritage Drive to Fourth Street S., a stretch of about a mile. That road has long been considered for improvements by a succession of city councils throughout the years. Now it’s time, council members decided.
The road is actually a partial road. There is about one-half mile of farm field at the end of one part of it. Currently, the portion of the road that is there is only 24-feet wide, with no curb and gutter, and in a state of disrepair.
If the council gives final approval after the Dec. 12 public hearing, the work on the road will begin next summer and be completed then, with the final bituminous layer added in 2018, according to the WSB & Associates feasibility report presented to the city council by Sartell City Engineer Mike Nielson.
The new road will connect to the fifth “leg” of the roundabout currently at Heritage Drive. It will be a two-lane urban-collector roadway with center left-turn lane, curb and gutter, and a 10-foot-wide walking trail on one side that could be made into a concrete sidewalk sometime in the future. The project will also involve the extensive addition of utilities along that route: storm sewer, sanitary sewer, water main and lighting.
Of the total cost, the following are estimates of how it would be paid: local funds, $870,000; federal funds, $937,000; and special assessments, $2.3 million.
