Cloquet street dig nears the finish line

As the end of summer vacation comes into view, so does the end of the $3 million Washington Avenue reconstruction project - at least those parts of the project near Cloquet Middle School.

Assistant county engineer Milt Hagen told the Pine Knot News that the project is going very well and is on schedule.

"Our contract specified that the section of Washington Avenue between 14th Street and 22nd Street had to be completed by August 30," Hagen said, adding that the final portion of the project - from 26th Street to County Highway 45 - should be completed by Sept. 20.

The project is bringing significant changes to the busy roadway.

The new Washington Avenue will be narrower, at 36 feet instead of 44. Instead of having two parking lanes, and two driving lanes on each side, parking will be eliminated and there will be one lane each way for driving and a mostly continuous center lane for turning.

On the south side of the roadway, contractors are laying a new 10-foot-wide shared concrete path - for walkers, bicyclists, skateboarders, etc. - running all the way from Eighth Street (by Kwik Trip) to 29th Street in Scanlon. While the curbs on the north side of the road remain in roughly the same place, the south curb moved north about 7 ½ feet, to make room for the shared path and a boulevard on that side of the street. All sidewalks and pathways will be ADA-compliant. The existing bituminous path between 18th and 22nd on the north side of Washington Avenue is being replaced by a concrete sidewalk.

In an update last week, Hagen said all driveways, curb and gutter work, and the shared-use path are complete from Minnesota Highway 33 to 22nd Street.

Hagen said Northland Construction is scheduled to pave the first layer of bituminous pavement from 14th Street to 22nd Street by mid-August, adding that Northland will likely pave the 36-foot wide street in three 12-foot wide passes. Once the material is cooled and compacted, cars will be able to drive on it in less than an hour.

Still, they'd rather people find a different route if they can.

"If drivers don't need to be on Washington Avenue to access their property or a business, please use the detour," Hagen said. "Contractors' crews can work more efficiently and safely if we can reduce the amount of traffic on the roadway during construction operations."

New signs will be installed. The stop signs at 20th Street (the middle school entrance) that were added when the new school opened two years ago will be replaced by pedestrian crosswalks. Kids walking to school and others crossing the street there will be able to push a button that will turn on three different rapidly flashing beacon signs - one on the south side, one on the median, and one on the north side - to alert drivers to stop because a pedestrian is or will be crossing.

Hagen said the school will also program two speed limit signs for the peak times of dropoff and pickup before and after school.

"The signs will say 'School Speed Zone 20 mph when flashing' and then flash what your speed is," Hagen explained previously. "But it won't necessarily be a 20 mph speed limit all day long."

All work by the school should be done before school starts after Labor Day.

Work on sanitary sewer and water main work is all complete for the city of Cloquet, and the Scanlon sanitary sewer is complete from 23rd to 26th Street. Storm sewer crossings still need to be completed from 22nd to 29th Street.

The final parts of the project will include removing bituminous surface and repaving the roadway from 26th Street to Highway 45, completing curb and gutter and the shared-use path from 22nd to 29th Street, and completing landscaping (including tree plantings) and sodding.