Progress continues to be made on several road projects in Oil City.
Here is a rundown of where some of the work stands as of Tuesday:
Center Street Bridge/paving
City manager Mark Schroyer said work on the Center Street Bridge is nearing completion, and the goal is to have the structure open to traffic by the end of the month.
The 172-foot-long steel arch bridge, which was built in 1939, has been closed since March 29 to allow for rehabilitation work that is expected to add at least 50 years to the service life of the structure.
Work included the installation of new asphalt roadway approaches, new concrete bridge approaches, concrete sidewalks and curbs, refurbished hand railings, traffic signal work, updated drainage, landscaping and pavement markings.
Francis J. Palo Construction Co. of Clarion was contracted to complete the $1,983,543 project, which was paid for entirely with state money through Pennsylvania’s Act 89 transportation funding plan.
The initial target completion date for the bridge restoration was in late September, but work was delayed by a month when contractors encountered some surprises, such as the need to replace a fascia beam on the upstream side of the bridge.
Donegal Construction Group also completed milling and paving work last week from the intersection of Center and Seneca streets to a location just beyond the railroad tracks that cross Center Street near the intersection with Spring Street/Plummer Street.
Plummer/Spring water line replacement
Crews are also pushing toward the finish line for the water line replacement project along Plummer and Spring streets.
Work began in early August to replace a water line that dates back to the early 1800s. It burst in November, resulting in a rippling effect on the roadway.
Clarion-based Terra Works was contracted to complete the work at a cost of $944,449.
Jason Herman, the city’s director of water services, said the new line has been put in place up to Merritt Street as of Tuesday afternoon.
Herman said the expectation is to have the waterline completely installed within the next two weeks.
A trench line repair will begin sometime next week and will likely take two to three weeks to finish, Herman said.
Herman indicated Deer Street, Park Road and Spring Street, from Sycamore Street to Harriott Avenue, will be paved this fall.
The remaining sections of roadway will be paved in the spring in conjunction with PennDOT.
Sycamore
Sycamore Street will be closed today, partially on Thursday and all of next week.
Schroyer said milling of the roadway is scheduled to begin today and the roadway won’t be open again until late Thursday.
The road will be open through the weekend, but it will be closed again all of next week as Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad completes work on the railroad crossing.
Motorists traveling on Elm Street after crossing Veterans Bridge will still be able to pass through the intersection on Sycamore Street, but they will not be able to turn either direction onto Sycamore Street.
