Signs already are up announcing “Road will close on 5-4-20 for 600 days,” but the street remained open Tuesday afternoon.
The street is being closed for several reasons. Among them, the city needs to relocate several utilities, including electric, gas, water, storm sewers and sanitary sewers, as well as communication cables.
“This construction will leave the street in poor condition,” said Rich Engle, the city’s director of engineering. Eventually the city will repave the roadway, but officials will wait to do final paving of B Street until the construction is finished because construction vehicles will further damage the street, Engle said.
Spooky Nook construction will be happening on both sides of B Street, with completion estimated to happen in late 2021.
“Closing B Street provides maximum safety for motorists and pedestrians by keeping them out of both city and developer construction zones,” Engle said.
The 600-day estimate is officials’ best guess for the project’s completion, he added.
Other Closings
Here’s a look at other streets that have been closed, or will be affected in the future:
- Rhea Avenue was shut down March 16 between D and B streets. The part of Rhea within that area that is between Hunter Avenue and B Street will never reopen because it will become part of the parking lot for the Spooky Nook complex.
- Warwick Avenue, which runs parallel to Rhea, is open now, but will close sometime in the future when work starts on either an extension of a new roadway called Rhea Avenue that will connect to B Street, or expansion of the parking lot. The time has not been determined for that, Engle said.
- B Street will close between the Black Street Bridge and Gordon Avenue, which is three blocks to the north, at some point, depending on the construction crews' schedule. Engle said the city is talking with the contractors about whether that section could be closed sooner, while the schools are out.
- Before B Street reopens, wider sidewalks will be built on both sides of the street from Park Avenue to Rhea, turn lanes will be added at key intersections, and new street lights, similar to the ones on Main Street, will be installed.
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