Public Works Dept. ramps up street paving projects

With over 100 miles of streets in the City of Rolla, maintaining and enhancing all the streets and roadways in the city is a continuous, ongoing effort that is managed by the City’s Public Works and Street Departments.

If you happen to travel 10th Street from Forum Drive to Pine Street on a regular basis, I’m sure you noticed that Rolla Asphalt began milling that section of street on Wednesday in preparation for it to be paved this Monday, Aug. 2 and Tuesday, Aug. 3 – weather permitting. The City realizes how heavily this east/west corridor is traveled, and that the milling and paving is unavoidably causing delays and detours in traffic. While we realize that this project is causing some inconvenience and time delay for our residents, we ask that you please drive with caution while traveling this portion of street, and consider using some of the adjacent streets in the City that detour around this area while construction is underway. If everything goes as scheduled, the project should be completed by this Wednesday, and I think the community will be glad to be traveling a much smoother section of road that has needed attention for some time now.

In addition to the paving of 10th Street from Forum to Pine Street, the Public Works Department will also begin several asphalt sealing projects in the next week or so. This micro surfacing procedure is being provided by Donelson Construction Company of Clever, Missouri. It is a modified quick set surfacing system that will provide an approximate one-quarter-inch-thick pavement resurfacing. Micro surfacing is an economical alternative to hot asphalt mix overlays, which typically applies a minimum of one – and one-half-inches of pavement resurfacing.

Streets (and portions of streets) that are scheduled for this micro surfacing in the coming weeks include: Arkansas Avenue (Bardlsey to Farrar), Allyson Court (Holt to cul de sac); Avon Court (Winchester to cul de sac); Broadway (Forum to Eastwood); Brookside Lane (Sycamore to cul de sac), California Dr. (Forum to McCutchen); Carmel Court (cul de sac to California); Carol Street (Tory to cul de sac); Carriage Lane (Sycamore/Countryside intersection to Ironhorse);Chestnut Drive (Sycamore to McFarland); Cobblestone Drive (Ironhorse to Cul de sac); Cottage Court (Brookside to cul de sac); Countryside Drive (Sycamore/Carriage intersection to cul de sac); Crabapple Court (Hawthorne to 174’ N. of Hawthorne); Crescent Ridge (Countryside to cul de sac); Cronnin Court (cul de sac to 4th); Cypress Drive (79’ N. of Pheasant Hill to Sycamore); Del Mar Court (cul de sac to Forum); Devonshire Lane (Winchester W. intersection to 172’ NE of Winchester E. Int. and Winchester to 172’ NE of Winchester); Eagle Wing (dead end to S. edge of Cypress); Eastwood Drive (315’ W. of Forum W. edge of McCutchen); 5th Street (Holloway to Woodland); 14th Street (Holloway to Farrar and Iowa to Holloway); 4th Street (Holloway to dead end); Great Oaks/Forest Dr. (Woodland S. to Woodland N.); Hauck Drive (10th to Forum); Hawthorne Drive (Woodland to dead end); Heller Street (14th to Missouri); Hillview Dr. (Broadway to McCutchen); Holloway St. (14th to Missouri); Holt Avenue (Tory to 438’ N. of Tory); Homelife Plaza (dead end to Forum); Ironhorse Road (162’ S. of Countryside to S. edge of Countryside); La Jolla Court (cul de sac to Tory Ave.); Leroy Street (14th to Missouri); Malibu Court (cul de sac to California); Martin Street (14th to Missouri); McFarland Drive (Hwy. 72 E. Int. to Hwy. 72 W. Int.); Missouri Avenue (Bardsley to Farrar); Monterrey Court (cul de sac to California); Ozark Street (Southern most end to Missouri); Pershing Drive (Hillview to McCutchen); Pershing Place (Independence to McCutchen); San Fernando Court (Cul de sac to California); Scenic Drive (Truman to Broadway); 6th Street (Holloway to 257’ E. of Holloway); Spencer Street (14th to 18th ); Stratford Lane (Winchester to Devonshire); Sycamore Drive (Countryside/Carriage Int. to N. Curb of Brookside); Sydney Court (McFarland to cul de sac); Tory Avenue (Farrar to Forum Dr.); Truman Avenue (McCutchen to Pershing and Forum to McCutchen); Winchester Drive (Chestnut to Newcastle and Hwy. O to Chestnut); Woodland Drive (Salem to 257’ E. of Holloway); and Woodlawn Court (Forum to cul de sac) and Woodlawn Drive (Forum to McCutchen).

While this work may take several days to complete, streets that are being sealed will remain open with temporary one-lane traffic established. Flagmen will be present to direct traffic, and motorists and pedestrians are urged to remain cautious when traveling through the areas of work. Delays up to 20 minutes should be expected. For more information, please call the Public Works Department at 364-8659.

In closing I’d like to remind everyone that the State “Back to School Sales Tax Holiday” officially begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 6, and ends at midnight on Sunday, Aug. 8. The sales tax holiday (City tax savings of 2.5% and State tax savings of 4.225%), is intended to provide tax relief to families with children attending school by exempting the sales tax on clothing, personal computers, certain computer software, and school supplies.

If you like watching fast pitch softball on a national scale, be sure to attend the prestigious ASA Boys 10U-18U and Mens 23U Fast Pitch Softball National Tournament hosted by the City’s Parks and Recreation Department Aug. 4-8 at the Ber Juan Sportsplex in Rolla. More than 2,500 individuals are expected to participate and attend this 5-day national tournament, which will provide some very exciting and entertaining fast pitch softball. I’d like to extend a warm Rolla welcome to all of the players, coaches, and staff (and parents, grandparents, family and friends), who will travel hundreds of miles across the U.S. to participate in the tournament. I’m looking forward to this unique opportunity for the City to host such a high-level sporting event at the Ber Juan Sportsplex.