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Employees with the Martin Marietta pavement
and concrete company prepare for milling operations on 21st Street south of
Highway 24 the night of Sept. 17. The street upgrade is part of 2C work leading to
fresh paving of the section between Broadway Street and the highway.
Westside 2C update, and city explains 26th Street ped-ramp removals
A crew from Trax Construction pours concrete
for a new pedestrian ramp at the north corner of St. Anthony Street's
T-intersection with 26th Street. The ramps on both the north and south corners
replaced versions installed with federal and state funds in 2009. The old ramps
had been designed with specifications that have since changed, according to the
city.
Westside Pioneer photo
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The city also provided information on six pedestrian ramps that are being replaced along 26th Street.
The projects are:
- 21st Street between Broadway and Highway 24 - Update, Sept. 17: In the initial version of this article, the Pioneer had incorrectly reported that the paving was complete on this section. Milling actually started the night of Sept. 17 and is to continue through Sept. 19, according to a city official, with the pavement overlay to occur the nights of Sept. 20 and 21.
- 26th Street from Colorado Avenue to Lower Gold Camp Road - concrete work (mostly pedestrian ramps) through mid-September; paving from mid- to late September/early October.
- Bear Creek Road from Lower Gold Camp Road to Gold Camp Road - complete.
- King Street from 30th Street to 19th Street - complete.
- Lower Gold Camp Road from 21st Street to 26th Street - complete .
Prior to the ramp-replacement work in early
September, a contractor's markings at the northwest corner of 26th and Robinson
streets revealed the plan to start the new ramp farther up the sidewalk so as to
reduce the slope.
Westside Pioneer photo
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- Uintah Street from Mesa Road to 30th Street - concrete in progress, paving planned “late season.”
26th STREET RAMPS:
Kim Melchor of City Communications responded to Westside Pioneer questions about the ramp replacements. The change-outs are part of the preparation for the planned 2C paving work on 26th, she explained.
Records show that two of the removed ramps (both at St. Anthony and 26th streets) had been installed in 2009 by the city's Mountain Metro Transit. It was part of a federal/state funded effort that consisted of 40 ramps in all along Westside bus routes.
The other four ramps being replaced were set in 2016 as 2C-funded work.
Regarding the '09 ramps, Melchor said that when they were installed, “there was still a lot of uncertainty in the interpretation of ADA [Americans with Disabilities Act] requirements across the board for many communities. The ramps were installed in accordance with the city's interpretation of the ADA requirements at that time.”
Specifically, she said, “the cross slope of the flat landing at the top of the ramp and the running slope (grade of the ramp from the street to the sidewalk) were greater than we would allow as an acceptable tolerance today… Therefore, when we inspected the ramps prior to road work this summer we determined that they should be replaced.”
The total cost to replace both ramps was $9,459.47, Melchor reported.
As for the four from 2016, she said they are being replaced under warranty. According to individuals close to the project, the '16 ramps did not quite meet the city specifications for ramp slope and the shaping of the “landing” space at the bottom of the ramp.
2C was the name of the city-sponsored ballot measure that voters approved in the November 2015 election. It established a .62 percent sales tax over a five-year span (2016-2020), dedicated to road improvements, consisting of milling and paving and (where applicable) curbs, gutters and sidewalks.
Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 9/11/17, updated 9/17/17;
Transportation:
General)
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