Asphalt plant problems delay Elm work, SW 27th blocked until late August

By Daniel Lapham/Staff writer

Problems with a new asphalt plant have caused delays to the Elm Street lake access area west of Country Club.

Public Works Director Jim Luckett Jr. said “as long as we can get asphalt, we should be done by the end of next week.” He said Schwartz Paving, contracted to supply the asphalt, is having problems at its asphalt plant.

Although slower than he’d like, the project is moving along, Luckett said.

“We’ve had it partially closed during different phases, but we are almost done. When you can’t get asphalt, it’s hard to pave a road,” he said.

Construction on SW 27th Street between Miles and South Lawn Drive is expected to be completed by the end of August.

“It will be completely blocked off until Aug. 30,” Luckett said. “Because we have five new tin horns going across 27th, there is not really any other way to do it.”

The next major street project is expected to go before the City Council during a special meeting within the next two weeks.

“The 8-inch waterline on Barker will be presented to Council with a recommendation to award the contract to King Enterprises,” Luckett said.

Minor dirt work remains on north U.S. 81 project; Six-Mile Creek new focus

By Rex Hogan/Staff writer

Drivers heading north on U.S. 81 have noticed for some time that most of the 3 ½-mile reconstruction of the four lanes is complete.

That leaves the next road construction question of when will the state Highway 66 bridge project, east of El Reno, be completed.

“The actual bridge work has been completed,” said Oklahoma Department of Transportation spokesman Cole Hackett. “Now they are doing approaches and that is expected to be completed in about two months,” he said.

Hackett said the $5 million project to reconstruct four lanes from the El Reno city limits north on U.S. 81 is done except for some minor work.

“Reconstruction of the northbound lanes, the resurfacing and major drainage work has been done, it’s what we call ‘significantly completed.’

“They are still laying some sod and doing some drainage work on the east side of the road, but we don’t anticipate there will be any major disruptions in traffic flow,” he said.

The $2 million contract to rebuild the bridge over Six-Mile Creek, about 1.5 miles east of El Reno, was awarded by ODOT in the summer of 2007, Hackett said.

“When the approaches are done in about 60 days, then traffic will be back on the bridge,” he said.

Hackett said work crews should be out of the area by mid-September.