Massive Street Upgrades Move Ahead

The second phase of a massive project to upgrade and resurface streets all over town has moved into its third month, with work taking place in multiple locations.

Work crews will move from street to street over the next few months, replacing aging water and sewer lines on some streets and making repairs to others. Repaving will begin once the prepatory work is completed.

A detailed work schedule will be posted to the town's Facebook site --Town of Clayton, NC -- each week as work progresses from street to street.

This phase of the massive project will take much longer to complete than the initial phase that was finished up earlier this year, since many streets require the utility work and new sidewalks.

Replacing utilities, the slowest part of the process, will go first.

Since paving won't begin until all utility work is completed, some streets may be in a construction status for months as the more time consuming utility work proceeds from street to street, Town Manager Steve Biggs said.

"We would like to pave each street immediately after the utilities are in the ground, but piecemeal paving is just not cost effective," the Town Manager said. "This project has a much broader scope of work and will take much longer than just street resurfacing."

Work crews will take care to minimize utility service outages as the work progresses, he said, and once subsurface work on a street is completed, it will be made drivable until paving can begin. The streets first on the utilities list will take the longest for total completion.

Residents will be notified when work crews are ready to begin work on their particular street, Biggs said. Vehicles must be removed from streets when work begins and remain on a side street until the utility work is completed and the street is drivable again. Every effort will be made to open streets at the end of a given workday. Residents who need to come and go during the day will be advised to move their vehicles to a side street during the process.

"When utility work begins on a street, residents may not be able to get in and out of their driveways for a few days," Biggs said. "In that event, we'll ask them to park on a nearby street for coming and going from their homes. Every effort will be made to minimize the inconvenience as much as possible, but work like this requires that the street be periodically closed to traffic."

Regular reports on the progress of the work will be posted to the town's Facebook site--Town of Clayton, NC--on an ongoing basis. Residents will be able to follow the scope of the work as it moves from street to street, Biggs said.

Since the utility work includes replacing water lines on many streets, some residents will need to boil their water for a day or two while the new lines are being disinfected and tested. Town officials will issue a "Boil Water" notice to residents when a switch-over to new lines is taking place. The boil water advisory is required any time new lines are brought into service or repaired. It is just a precaution until a confirmed clean sample has been verified.

"We realize that this work will be an inconvenience for many residents from time to time over the next few months, but it's a necessary part of upgrading and modernizing our utilities and improving our streets," Mayor Jody McLeod said. "I'm sure that before this is over, some people will get tired of all the torn-up streets, but you can be sure we're pushing to get this done as quickly as possible."

The Town Council awarded a $1.88 million contract to the low bidder, local firm the Fred Smith Company last month to repair and resurface portions of 21 town streets. A third streets project that includes portions of five more streets, including an extensive rebuilding of John Street, is planned for the spring.

"As many residents can attest, this work is badly needed," the Mayor said.

Streets due for work this fall include segments of South Smith Street, North Mial Street, East Front Street, West Second Street, East Horne Street, South Fayetteville Street, East Hamby Street, Central Street, Dogwood Street, North Cooper Street, Crescent Street, Compton Street, North Robertson Street, Willow Street, Kildee Street, Pineland Street, John Street (Horne to 70), East Stallings Street and East Whitaker Street.

Streets slated for work in the Spring include East Joyner Street, Durham Street, Parrish Street, Hobbs Street and John Street (70 to Holding). The work on John Street is expected to consume more than half the total "Spring Project" budget.

The work is being mostly financed through the 2008 bond issue approved by voters that also provided funds for park expansion and improvement.

The Phase 1 work, which reached completion last year, repaired and resurfaced 32 blocks of streets, with installation of 7,500-linear-feet of new concrete sidewalks. The project also provided curb and storm drainage repairs.

For a look at the scope of the Phase 2 work, please click here.

For a look at the scope of the Spring Project work, please click here.

For a map of the Phase 2 work, please click here.

For a map of sidewalk install locations, please click here.