Major Big Lake Road paving project to bring traffic delays
Work will include flagging and pilot cars, officials said.
What you need to know:
- Crews are beginning a major paving project on more than 3 miles of Big Lake Road, from the Parks Highway to the North Shore Drive roundabout.
- Drivers should expect delays and periodic pilot cars. Work is expected to be completed before winter. The $16.4 million federally funded project includes pavement milling, repaving, drainage work, striping, guardrails and signage.
- A related project next summer will make similar improvements to more than 4 miles of Church Road. It is expected to cause significant traffic disruptions, including an approximately two-week road closure.
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Construction crews are kicking off a major paving project this week to repair and smooth more than 3 miles of Big Lake Road.
The project will include stripping off the top layer of asphalt from the heavily used thoroughfare and laying several inches of new material, state officials said this month.
The project starts where Big Lake Road meets the Parks Highway and stretches to the roundabout at North Shore Drive. It does not include Big Lake Road beyond the roundabout.
Pavement work is expected to start this week and will be completed before the snow flies, said Jonathan Tague, the state transportation engineer overseeing the project.
Work will be done during the day, he said. Drivers can expect delays and periodic pilot cars. Construction will include pavement milling, repaving, drainage, striping and some new guardrails and signage, he said.
“The pavements are aging, and we need to refresh those,” Tague said. “Maintenance has done a little bit of work to try to help those limp along, but some of the underlying issues didn’t change.”
State crews started clearing trees and brush along the construction area earlier this month, including pushing foliage about 10 feet back from the pedestrian pathway where there is room in the state right-of-way to do so, officials said.
The Big Lake Road construction is the first of a two-part, $16.4 million federally funded pavement project in the area. The second stage, planned for next summer, will make similar fixes on more than 4 miles of Church Road from the Parks Highway to Schrock Road.
That project is expected to cause major traffic disruptions because it will include an approximately two-week road closure to replace deep pipes near the Spruce Avenue and Seldon Road intersection, Tague said.
A public meeting about the projects is scheduled for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Sept. 2 at the Big Lake Lions Recreation Center.
-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com