VALPARAISO | The reconstruction of Lincolnway through the Eastgate commercial corridor is expected to be completed before the end of October, city Project Manager Don McGinley said.
McGinley told the city's Redevelopment Commission on Thursday the work was about 90 percent complete. Curbs are done and one driveway to a business was to be completed Friday in time for the road to be shut down at 6 p.m. Friday until 6 a.m. today for the laying of asphalt. That will leave just one coat of asphalt to be done, probably next week.
Marks Road also has been milled in preparation for paving, which the city is trying to coordinate with the final coat of asphalt on Lincolnway. Striping will be applied after the final layer of asphalt, but the new signal mast arms for the Roosevelt Road intersection won't be delivered until later this year.
McGinley said the decorative lighting is installed on the north side from Roosevelt to the roundabout but was not wired yet. Sidewalks will be completed on both sides of the road except for about a 300-foot section in front of the former McDonald's and Valparaiso Transmission because the owner, John Morgavan, refused to grant the needed easement.
The weather caused the contractor to lose a total of about 10 days of work, but McGinley said the work was far enough ahead of schedule that it seems the city won't need to extend the Oct. 27 completion deadline to accommodate the delays. Contractor G.E. Marshall is seeking compensation for another delay, however.
The city's Board of Public Works and Safety was asked Thursday to review the contractor's request for additional work that was required at the beginning of the project because the utility poles were not relocated by April 1 as they were supposed to be.
Marshall was able to work around the presence of the poles, but it required additional equipment and labor. City Attorney David Hollenbeck said state law has provisions for such claims, but he would have to review them and make a recommendation to the board, possibly at its Oct. 23 meeting.
The commission noted that the first public sessions with residents, businesses and property owners to plan the project were held in 2000. The first plan was scrapped when Mayor Jon Costas took office five years ago, and a new plan was developed calling for the roundabout at LaPorte Avenue, Lincolnway and Sturdy Road as well as relocating the utility lines off the corridor.
The $4.2 million project includes widening the road to three lanes as well as adding curbs, gutters, sidewalks, landscaping and decorative lighting. Several businesses in the corridor have upgraded the appearance of their buildings with some help from matching grants provided by the commission.
The project also inspired the construction of a Horizon Bank at the former Big Wheel restaurant site, construction of a new road -- University Drive -- between Lincolnway and LaPorte at what will be the new north entrance to Valparaiso University, and a major redevelopment of the property between the new bank and the new road into apartments and commercial space at a cost of about $34 million.
