Auburn plans Rieke trail expansion
By Dave Kurtz | KPC Media - The Star
The city of Auburn is advertising for contractors’ bids on four major projects for this summer.
The Auburn Board of Works voted Thursday to move forward in the bid process.
One project will repave the Rieke Park Trail and extend it to the west, following the shoreline of the park’s pond to connect with the YMCA of DeKalb County soccer complex.
The existing north-south trail of 6,200 feet will receive a new coating with 1.25 inches of asphalt.
The trail extension will run for 2,114 feet around the south side of the park’s pond. It will end at the soccer complex on North Indiana Avenue, north of C.R. 36-A.
Construction on the trail is scheduled to start July 1 and continue through Nov. 1.
The trail is one of two coming projects that will be financed using the city’s tax increment financing funds. The other is a separation of storm water and sanitary sewers northeast of downtown, which might wait until 2020, Mayor Norm Yoder said.
The bid process approved Thursday includes three street projects planned for this summer. A $630,000 state grant through the Community Crossings program will pay one-half of the bill, with city funds financing the other half.
Improvements at the Wayne Street and Auburn Drive intersection will widen its southwest and northeast corners.
A traffic light on the southwest corner was out of service for an extended period last year because it was struck by a semi trying to turn the sharp corner to head south. A replacement pole already has been hit again, making “kind of a justification for the project,” said City Engineer Steve Klein.
The widening of the intersection’s northeast corner will allow a shift of all traffic lanes to the north. That will make it easier for semis coming from the south on Wayne Street to make a right turn onto Auburn Drive, Klein said.
The intersection will receive an all-new traffic signal system, including a control cabinet, lights and poles.
The remaining portion of the intersection that is not affected by the widening will be milled and resurfaced.
Touring Drive in west Auburn will see a total reconstruction with some curb replacements.
Klein said Touring Drive is 36 feet wide. It will have a base of 12 inches of stone instead of the standard 10 inches and a coating of 5.5 inches of asphalt instead of the typical 4 inches.
North Street will be milled to a depth of 2.5 inches and resurfaced with asphalt. The paving project will stretch one-half mile between Grandstaff Drive and Indiana Avenue, including intersections.
The Board of Works on Thursday also approved a contract with Bomack Construction for a storm-sewer project in the area of Ensley Avenue and Sprott Street. Yoder said that will be financed with operating revenue from sewer rates.
