The Austin City Council is adding anti-graffiti coating and architectural texture and stain to the retaining walls to its portion of the project to replace the Oakland Place Southeast bridge

The Austin City Council reviewed and approved its portions of the project, which total more than $436,000 during its Monday work session, and it voted to add architectural texture and architectural stain on the retaining walls for $26,676 and anti-graffiti coating for $1.15 per square foot.

Public Works Director Steven Lang said the coating was used on the north main flood wall.

“It has worked well,” Lang said. “We’ve had a couple areas that have been hit by graffiti.”

One piece of graffiti left on the flood wall for a few weeks came right off with a light graffiti remover and power washing.

The roughly $2.59 million replacement of the Oakland Place Southeast bridge, which spans Dobbins Creek on the south side of East Side Lake, started last week. The bridge, which sees more than 7,000 vehicles per day, will be closed to traffic through May 2017.

During the project, the Oakland Place exit — the fly-over bridge from Interstate 90 — will be closed for traffic will be routed to 11th Drive Northeast. Oakland Place will be closed on the west at 12th Street Southeast and on the east at First Avenue Northeast. The traffic movement from Oakland Avenue to 14th Street will remain open to traffic.

The Austin City Council and Mower County board previously voted to approve various aspects of Icon Construction LLC’s roughly $2.59 million bid for work on the project. The county received about $1.85 million in state bonds for the project.

But the council revisited its portions, which also include money for the retaining walls, approach pavements and intersection reconstruction.

Construction will continue through the winter with the goal to complete work by the end of May because the 11th Place Southeast bridge over Interstate 90 near the 1509 10th Place NE Kwik Trip is slated to be replaced starting in June 2017.

Mower County handles all bridge projects in the county based on a more than 100-year-old standard. While Mayor Tom Stiehm noted the county is only required to build a basic bridge, he said the city, Vision 2020, and county staff and officials discussed the project and added several additions to the project.

“They’re doing much more than a basic bridge,” Mayor Tom Stiehm said.

The Oakland Place project will include a 52-foot bridge, a 10-foot sidewalk on the north side, a 6-foot sidewalk on the south side, roadway approaches, decorative lighting, improvements at the Oakland-14th Street intersection and retaining walls between the bridge and the East Side Lake Dam.

The bridge, built in 1932, is one of the oldest in the county and has long been deemed structurally deficient.

City costs of the Oakland Place bridge replacement

Retaining walls: $129,575 from Local Option Sales Tax

Approach Pavements: $ 257,800.16 from Municipal State Aid Account

Intersection Reconstruction: $ 22,087.65 from Capital Improvement Fund

Architectural Texture and Architectural Stain on the retaining walls: $26,676.00

Total: $436,138.81

—Anti-graffiti coating will cost $1.15 per square foot.