The City of Crookston has started multiple construction projects this week and has many others planned for the summer. With projects ranging from simply filling potholes to repaving entire roads and sidewalks. Crookston Public Works Director Brandon Carlson said fighting the floods this spring had put them about a month and a half behind schedule for some projects and says that this will be the year they will be aiming to get the basic maintenance done for the year.
Local road reconstruction projects had begun on Tuesday, June 21, with a few road projects around the city. “They milled Sunflower Street between 3rd Avenue South and Crescent Avenue on Tuesday, and then they moved on. RJ Zavoral & Sons have the contract for the local road projects this year, so 1st Avenue North and 2nd Avenue North are getting a complete reconstruct this year. They’re working on taking all the old roadways and sidewalks out right now,” Public Works Director Brandon Carlson explains. “The timeline for paving and getting everything back, they’re tentatively hoping for the end of July-ish timeframe is what they’re shooting for.”
Along with 1st and 2nd North Avenue, Carlson said that the crews have begun pulling off all of the old materials on South Washington Avenue and Eickhof Boulevard and will begin adding the final layer of blacktop on its new portion this year which will close it to thru traffic until the end of July. They have also completed filling some major potholes on Eickhof Boulevard, 3rd Avenue, Barrette Street, and North Broadway and reported that they plan to work their way down to more minor potholes on other roads around town.
REPLACING SIDEWALKS IN DOWNTOWN CROOKSTON-
Another major project the City is doing is reconstructing the sidewalk on the 200 block of South Main Street (in front of Longtin Insurance, KROX Radio, Widseth, and Crookston Eye Clinic) to replace the brick layout with new concrete. They plan to begin work on the week of June 27 to July 1. “The tree planters have been pushed around by the trees and have gotten too large for the boulevard they’re in, so we have to remove those trees before we can redo the sidewalks,” Director Brandon Carlson explains. “So, we’re going to cut the two trees down on that block and remove the planter bed areas for those trees, then pour a sidewalk the whole way. Hopefully, if the weather cooperates, it’ll be done by the end of next week.”
Carlson said the sidewalk replacement shouldn’t take longer than a few days. “It’ll probably be about two days. We have to prep it the day before, then the following day, hopefully, we can pour it, then the day after that it should be able to be walked on,” Director Carlson explained. “We’re checking with local businesses, and ideally, everyone can get in from the back of the building, and they might have to reroute some customers for a couple of days.”
The City is moving away from the brick layout of the sidewalks due to the bricks not holding up to the heavy salting during the winter and they are more expensive than concrete. Carlson said they plan to seal the concrete to protect it from the weather and salting, which he noted did not work as well with the current brick layouts. The plan is to replace all the sidewalks along South Main Street and South Broadway over the next few years and Carlson said they are currently targeting the worst sidewalks first before moving to other sidewalks.
CURRENT ROAD CONSTRUCTION
The Department is currently reconstructing 1st and 2nd Avenue North and will be closed to thru traffic until July 26. Sunflower Street will be closed until July 22, South Washington Avenue will be closed until July 28, and Eickhof Boulevard will be closed until August 1.
If you have any questions about any of the construction projects, you can call the Crookston Public Works Department at 218-281-1232.
