Where to begin?

There’s a new roof at Riverside Arena and roof repairs being made to the Austin Municipal Building.

Ice is being made at Packers Arena.

Spruce trees have been moved from one part of the city to the corner of Oakland Place East and 11th Street Northeast. Can’t call it an “eyesore” anymore.

The final stages of the North Main Street flood control project are nearing. Soon, citizens will see a new “decorative” flood wall go up.

Forty-five blocks of city streets have been reconstructed.

Oh, yes … both bridges are gone from East Oakland Avenue and the depression is being filled in. Before winter, there will be an asphalt surface for motorists to use in preparation for the new concrete street surface next year.

Austin’s public works director, Jon Erichson, doesn’t know where to begin discussing what kind of year it has been in public works projects. They run the gamut from large to small, cover the width and breadth of the city and impact everyone.

Citizens do endure some hardships and inconveniences; particularly when street projects get underway.

“Sidewalk superintendents” see the public improvements from their front yards and porch steps.

A public works project can become the “talk of the town,” when a giant boom truck lifts roofing materials high into the air. They literally and figuratively stop traffic.

But excuse the seasonal inconveniences, because a city, any city, is only as good as its infrastructure.

Keeping Austin’s sound is the goal of the public works department.

Let’s take it from the top.

Riverside Arena had its east flat roof repaired recently.

According to Erichson, the work was a scheduled and budgeted improvement.

“Kiker Brothers was the low bidder for the contract,” Erichson said. “The east flag roof is over the Youth Activity Center.”

With only some metal fascia work to be done, the project will be completed later this month.

Next door to Riverside Arena, the Austin Municipal Building is getting a new roof.

Kiker Brothers was also the low-bidder on the project, which began a week ago and was also scheduled and budgeted to be made.

Skating ice is coming Oct. 4 to Packers Arena. According to Erichson, it’s a complicated process involving freezing a quarter-inch of ice on the floor’s surface and then painting it white before more ice can be made.

When Packers Arena’s ice is in, workers will move on to Riverside Arena as hockey and ice skating fans wait impatiently.

While the city’s public works department has a construction season full of work to be done, how well that construction season goes depends largely on the weather. Rain, for instance, can stop or delay a project, creating havoc for residents, the contractor and the public works department.

Sometimes, things work perfectly.

Trees make

a difference

Such was the case with a minor project for the city’s Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department after complaints surfaced about the unsightly Oakland Place East and 11th Street Northeast corner.

Located along one of Austin’s most heavily-traveled thoroughfares, the former location of Jim’s Super Value and a strip mall of other stores was vacated, because of recurring flooding problems.

The supermarket and other businesses moved to “higher ground” along 11th Street Northeast in a flood buyout project.

The vacant lot was left to the PRF Department.

It became the site of a retention pond for surface waters. Grass was planted, grass grew and along with it weeds.

Austin Third Ward City Council Member John P. Martin called it an “eyesore” when city officials and Erichson talked about public works projects for 2009 and beyond.

Erichson announced that night, there was money left over from another public works project that could be used to beautify the corner for the benefit of all.

One week later, 4 large spruce trees were panted on the corner and more landscaping will be done later, according to Erichson.

“It worked out perfectly,” the public works director said. “We had to remove those trees from another site and this way we were able to but them in a place where they can help solve a problem.”

That was an unscheduled public works project, but one that worked to the satisfaction of all.

Flood control

is priority

The June 14 flooding in Austin interrupted a major flood improvement project along North Main Street. However, workers caught up and now the project is proceeding on schedule, according to Erichson.

Sewer work was done from 2nd Avenue to 4th Avenue Northeast and now the contractor is installing sewer pipe from 4th Avenue north to the railroad tracks in the area.

Since the Sept. 14. 2004, flooding in Austin, major funding sources have been obtained and major flood control projects undertaken in the city.

One of the most visible flood control projects is the concrete wall being constructed in the northeast area near the Cedar River.

“The concrete has been pored below ground,” Erichson said, “and soon residents will see the flood wall grow above ground.”

Efforts are being undertaken to create a “decorative” flood wall.

With 45 separate street reconstruction projects in the city, one stands out: The East Oakland Avenue project.

“The 2 bridges are gone and the grade fill is being hauled in,” Erichson said. “The project is on schedule.”

Using federal dollars, bridges over 2nd and 3rd Streets Southeast were removed.

The depression in what could be Austin’s most heavily-traveled streets is being filled with base material.

When the project was announced, concerns were raised about how the project could exacerbate downtown flooding problems.

When the street depression filled up with Cedar River and Dobbins Creek flood waters, the runover damaged nearby business and lowed north down 4th Street Northeast to the Salvation Army, New Life Vineyard Church (old Terp Ballroom).

Erichson said the project’s engineers were aware of that possibility and are taking precautions.

“We’re mining an area east of the Roosevelt Bridge for granular material to use with the fill at the East Oakland Avenue site,” he said.

Thus, only six blocks away another kind of flood water “retention” area is being created as a contingency for future flooding problems in the area.

The East Oakland Avenue project has residents of Chauncy Apartments on the north side of the street watching every move construction workers make.

A giant black mountain of fill dirt was piled on the front lawn of Chauncy Apartments, too.

There is much more to come, according to Erichson. Storm sewer, water, electrical and tele-communications below-ground work.

The public works director expects the depression to be filled and a temporary base laid in order for an asphalt surface to be applied later this year. That will allow motorists to use the direct route across town.

“Then, next spring we will grind the asphalt off the street and begin to apply the new concrete for the driving surface,” he said.

Scheduled or unscheduled, budgeted or unbudgeted, it’s all about making Austin’s infrastructure stronger.