(Spirit Lake)– The general contractor on the Hill Avenue South project in Spirit Lake says he’s standing by his request for a seven-week extension on the project, which was originally slated for completion October 9th.
There was a lot of finger pointing going on as to who’s responsible for the delays at a weekly update meeting this (Wed.) morning.
The general contractor says the delays were out of his control, siting utility relocation problems early on in the project and last month’s torrential rains. Engineers say it was the general contractor’s obligation to make sure the utility issues were better coordinated.
The city council was told about the delays at their meeting October 12th. It was the concensus of the council that they would not be in favor of a seven week extension, but seemed favorable to a two week continuation, or October 23rd.
The contractor also reported today (Wed.) his goal of having the street open this Friday from 28th Street south won’t be attainable. He says now it will probably be October 29th.
A target date for reopening all of Hill Avenue south of 19th Street wasn’t given.
Sodding continues, light poles and traffic signals still need to be installed and work continues on the monuments at 19th street.
The engineer reported a portion of the rose compass at 28th Street along with some brick work doesn’t meet specifications and will have to be redone.
