Photos
The $13.5 million project will finish on budget and ahead of schedule. The final product features two northbound and two southbound lanes, along with a center turn lane, bike lanes and sidewalks.
Above-ground electrical and communication lines were buried, requiring crews to convert some of the businesses and homes along the corridor.
“The last major element is bringing all the buried manhole covers and valves to the surface,” said city engineer Roger Schoessel.
The manholes and valves are buried during the final paving so the asphalt layer is smooth. After that, crews go back and cut a hole in the asphalt to bring the pieces up to the surface.
With more than 100 valves and manhole covers in the Carpenter Road project, that segment will take one to two weeks to complete, depending on the weather.
Traffic will be affected during the final steps.
“The traffic control probably won’t be aggressive,” Schoessel said. “They can get away with just taking one lane.”
The project likely would have been completed by now if not for adverse weather delaying the final paving, he said.
“We could not get three dry days to save our lives,” Schoessel said.
Other than the weather delay, the project has gone smoothly. With everything expected to be done within two weeks, the project will finish well ahead of the December 2012 deadline.
“Because of the contractor and some construction techniques he employed, he expedited the whole project for us,” Schoessel said.
The end date can’t come soon enough for the employees of Jumping Jacks Family Fun Center in Lacey.
“To say it was slow maybe doesn’t encompass it; people thought we were closed,” said employee John Gonzales.
He said the business had to go to the city to get a sign showing it was open during the construction.
The sign didn’t improve business much, he said.
“We count on walk-ins as part of our business, for people to come in and play here,” Gonzales said.
Despite the hardships, Gonzales is looking forward to the improvements.
“Everybody can reap the benefits of a better street,” he said.
ckrotzer@theolympian.com
360-754-5476
theolympian.com/thisjustin
@chelseakrotzer
