Construction Update — PINK section 9/4/24
Construction update from RCOC
This week (weather permitting):
Asphalt removal (milling) on streets east of Cranbrook (south of Yarmouth) will take place Wednesday 9/4 through Saturday 9/8. Planned timing (see map HERE):
Wednesday 9/4 — Milling began today at the north end of Waddington moving south and will likely get through about half of the block between Pine and Tilbury Place.
Thursday 9/5 — Remaining part of Waddington, Tilbury Place and the part of S. Bradway between Yarmouth and Cranbrook.
Friday 9/6 — Tilbury Rd., Yarmouth east of Cranbrook to Bradway, Bradway between Tilbury Place and Maple.
Saturday 9/7 — Pine and north part of Yarmouth east of Cranbrook.
Springline will be grading behind the milling work, in the same order as the milling operation.
On Friday 9/6 and Saturday 9/7, Doan will be pouring concrete curbs and driveway approaches in the prepared areas on Oak and Yarmouth west of Cranbrook. Residents will receive a notice on their front doors about 48 hours in advance of the work. Please have vehicles out of the driveway or garage by 7 am on the day indicated on the notice, to avoid being blocked in for the two-week period discussed below.
Mike’s Landscaping will be out making repairs.
Fort Wayne will be on site on Friday 9/6 adjusting structures.
Next week (weather permitting):
Curbing operations will take place on Dorstone and Tottenham on Monday 9/9 and Tuesday 9/10. Driveway approaches will be removed Monday morning, then Doan will lay the curbs in the prepared areas. Driveway approaches are usually laid the day after the curbs are installed. Residents will receive a notice on their front doors about 48 hours in advance of the work. Please have vehicles out of the driveway or garage by 7 am on the day indicated on the notice, to avoid being blocked in for the two-week period discussed below.
Grading will continue in the south part of the Pink section, east of Cranbrook on Monday and Tuesday of next week. Paving will begin on Wednesday. On the day a street is paved, it is completely closed to all traffic, including residents. The planned paving schedule, weather permitting (see map HERE):
Wednesday 9/11 — Waddington, starting on the north end and moving south to Maple.
Thursday 9/12 - Tilbury Road and the southern part of Yarmouth (east of Cranbrook), S. Bradway between Tilbury Place and Maple. Paving will begin at the north end of each street and move south to Maple.
Friday 9/13 — North part of Yarmouth east of Cranbrook, Pine Street, Tilbury Place and S. Bradway from Yarmouth to Cranbrook.
Driveway access and parking restrictions during curbing
The curbing process includes removal of temporary driveway approaches, pouring concrete curbs, laying concrete driveway approaches and allowing the concrete to cure. Residents will not have access to their driveways for about two weeks, starting from the day the driveway approach is removed. This allows time for the concrete curbs/driveway approaches to cure before there is vehicle traffic on them. See more information on the curbing process and related limitations on driveway access and parking restrictions HERE.
New driveway approaches will generally be concrete, unless the Road Commission contacts the impacted resident to discuss a different material (asphalt, re-installing brick pavers, etc.) Residents who previously had asphalt driveway approaches can request an asphalt replacement (instead of concrete) by emailing Wayne Dabrowski at wdabrowski@rcoc.org.
On the days when the contractor is removing driveways, laying curb and laying driveway approaches, please park on another street during the workday (or perhaps arrange with a neighbor across the street to park in their driveway). It is very difficult, and in some cases impossible, for the contractor to navigate around vehicles parked on the street during construction. After the construction crews have left for the evening, street parking is fine until the crews come back at 7 am the next day.
Parking options during the workday for Yarmouth and Oak west of Cranbrook include streets on the west side of Covington — Amberly, Endsleigh, and Kent Ridge — or arranging with a neighbor on the opposite side of the street to park in their driveway. For Dorstone and Tottenham, parking west of Covington or on the Birmingham streets are options.
Once the concrete has cured, the contractor will remove barricades indicating that vehicle traffic on the curbs/driveway approaches can resume.
Milling, grading and paving operations
Today, the contractor began milling work to remove the existing asphalt pavement on Waddington and will move through other streets as indicated above. The milling equipment will move slowly, blocking the entire width of the street. There can be no parking on the street during the milling operation. The milling operation will begin at 7 am, and any vehicle on the street at that point (or throughout the day) will be towed. (Concrete curbs and driveway approaches will be fully cured by this point; driveway parking will be available to all homes on these streets.)
The milling equipment will block driveways as it moves down the street, thus residents may experience delays in getting into/out of their driveways. Because of the size of the equipment involved, the contractor will not be able to accommodate requests to move aside and allow residents to get into or out of their driveways. Residents will need to plan ahead and allow for a 30 to 60-minute delay for driveway/street access. Traffic will need to detour around the milling equipment. Flaggers will be positioned at both ends of the street.
Once the asphalt is removed, vehicles will be able to drive on the sub-grade. The sub-grade will be 4 inches or so below the concrete curb at each driveway, and the contractor will provide temporary stone ramps across the drop. Similarly, the sub-grade will be below the level of the pavement at Maple and any cross street that has not yet been milled; temporary stone ramps will be provided at these intersections. However, even with the ramps, the curb or pavement drop to the sub-grade may present an issue with low-profile vehicles (sports cars, for example) entering/leaving the driveway or turning onto Maple or another cross street. SUVs and most sedans can usually manage the drop without bottoming out. Residents with low-profile vehicles will want to park them outside of the milling/paving area if they need access to the vehicles during milling/paving. See below for parking suggestions.
After the milling operation is completed, Springline will prepare the sub-grade for paving. This will involve replacement of sub-grade that has deteriorated or is not of sufficient quality, adding additional stone as needed to bring it to the proper level, and grading to the appropriate form. There can be no parking on the street during the sub-grade work. The grading operation will begin at 7 am, and any vehicle on the street at that point (or throughout the grading process) will be towed. Traffic may be delayed or detoured during grading as the contractor works to get the sub-grade in shape to accept the new pavement. There will be flaggers at either end of the streets during the sub-grade work.
Paving is scheduled to begin at the north end of Waddington on Wednesday 9/11, and proceed through the streets laid out above. On the day a street is scheduled for paving, it will be closed to ALL traffic and there can be no street parking. The operation will begin at 7 am; any vehicle parked on the street at that point (or throughout the day) is subject to towing. (A single vehicle parked on the street will hold up the entire paving process.) Residents will not be able to enter or leave their driveways during the paving work.
The full-width paving operation on Waddington (and Tilbury and Yarmouth) will start the north end of each street and work south toward Maple. A procession of asphalt trucks will be staged on Maple Road and will back down the street to supply the asphalt for paving. Flaggers will be placed on Maple Road and at the north end of each street to ensure no traffic enters the street.
When laid, the asphalt is hot enough to melt shoes and tires and cause significant injury. The asphalt will cool over several hours; once it is cool enough to drive on, that portion of the street will be opened to vehicle traffic. Homes at the south end of the street, which will be paved last, may need to wait until the next morning for the asphalt to be sufficiently cooled.
The milling, sub-grade preparation and paving of each street will take about 5 workdays, so long as the weather cooperates. Residents may want to have a plan to park elsewhere throughout the process. See parking suggestions below. It will be a good idea not to schedule contractor work on your home during the 5 days of milling/grading/paving, given that street parking is not available and there will be delays in getting down the street during the milling and grading work. Limiting traffic on these streets throughout the week will help the road contractors do their work as efficiently as possible. Residents with lawn crews or other workers that normally come on the day paving is scheduled will want to coordinate with them to schedule a different day.
The Road Commission will place notices on front doors about 48 hours ahead of the days when the milling and paving processes will begin. Please make sure to remove vehicles from the street before 7 am on the date specified to allow the contractors to start on time and do their work efficiently.
Parking suggestions during the milling and paving operations
In general, residents will want to park behind the work (i.e., after work is completed on a street, park on that street).
For Waddington residents, Westwood or Glenhurst are alternatives.
For Tilbury and the south part of Yarmouth, Yarmouth west of Cranbrook will be an option once the curbs/driveway approaches are completed there. Waddington will be an option after it is paved. Bradway Blvd. next to Bradway Park is also an alternative.
Residents on east end of Tilbury Place and Pine may want to consider Westwood; on the west end, parking on Cranbrook Cross or Bradway near Bradway Park are options.
The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer on Maple has also given permission for residents to park on the west side or in the rear of their parking lot (please leave room for the church’s staff and visitors to park close to the buildings).
Garbage pick-up
Milling and paving operations are planned for the same day as garbage pick-up this Saturday 9/7 on Pine and the north part of Yarmouth (east of Cranbrook), and next Friday 9/13 on Pine Street, Tilbury Place, and the north part of Yarmouth. Residents with homes near a corner that would allow trash and recycling containers to be placed on a street that is not scheduled for milling or paving on those days (Waddington, for example) are encouraged to place the containers on that street for easier access by Priority Waste. Arranging with a neighbor to place your cans with theirs would be a good option. For residents unable to make such arrangements, the contractor staff will assist in dragging cans out to where they can be picked up by Priority Waste. If your street is scheduled for milling or paving on these garbage days, it would be a good idea to delay placing large amounts of trash or bulk waste by the curb until the following week.
Looking ahead . . .
Curb removal and underdrain placement on the second sides of Oak, Yarmouth west of Cranbrook, Dorstone and Tottenham will begin when the concrete on the first sides has sufficiently cured to allow driveway access. Once the second sides have curbs, milling and paving on these streets will begin, most likely in early October.
After the first lift of paving is placed in the south part of the Pink section, the contractor will be circling back to fill in concrete curbs in any gaps that remain (usually where there are structures, or a tree has been removed). Landscaping restoration and sprinkler repairs will also be a focus after the first layer of asphalt is down. The second layer of asphalt will likely be placed sometime in early October.
Reminders
Residents can expect water to pool in the streets when it rains between the first and second layers of asphalt. This is expected, because the level of the asphalt will be lower than the storm drains. See further information HERE.
Sprinklers damaged by the road construction will be repaired by Mike’s Landscaping. The Road Commission has indicated that residents choosing to use their own contractors for repairs will not be reimbursed for the cost.
Questions and concerns during the construction process should be directed to Wayne Dabrowski at the Road Commission — 248-858-4862 or wdabrowski@rcoc.org.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this project.