Construction work is continuing on Baltimore Street. According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, work has continued since April 2021.
Amy Crawford, the area engineer who works for the Missouri Department of Transportation, provided updates on the construction process. The project has included several major updates to the road. The drainage system has been updated to fix problems with flooding. Baltimore street was overlaid with new pavement throughout the project.
The Americans with Disabilities Act required several of the updates to the road. Sidewalks had to be brought up to ADA standards along with pedestrian indicators. Signal heads had to be updated to the flashing yellow arrow in the left turn lane as well.
The sidewalks are being paid for by the city of Kirksville with the construction aspect being handled by MoDOT according to Ashley Young, an assistant city manager of Kirksville. MoDOT was not initially going to build the sidewalks on the west side of Baltimore street between East Normal Avenue and East McPherson Street. The city council wanted to see this completed, so they voted to supply the funds.
Krupp Construction out of Ellisville, Missouri is the lead contractor for this project, Crawford said. Various sub-contractors handle aspects such as striping and lighting. The price of the contract was $4,900,992.78.
The contractor is allowed to work on the project when the weather is good until the project is completed.
“They only have two to three weeks of work left that needs to be completed. Of course that work will take some good weather and then the sidewalks will be done,” Crawford said.
Crawford said there is still some pedestrian indication that needs to be added to the improved sidewalks. There is also some seed, mulch and sodding that needs to be completed. Striping on the road also needs to be added. This work will not be able to be completed until spring.
The initial negotiated completion date was Feb. 2, but because of issues related to COVID-19 and poor weather, work had to extend past that date. Crawford said they would like the job completed as soon as possible, but realistically work will not be completed until the spring.