At the Ponca City Board of Commissioners meeting Monday night, board members voted to authorize the advertisement for bids for the street improvement project, Concrete Pavement Reconstruction, Prospect Avenue – 14th Street to 350 Feet West.
This project is for concrete pavement reconstruction of Prospect Avenue from Fourteenth Street to 350 feet west. The outside lanes, curbs and the newly constructed median are all in good condition and will not be included in this project. Only the westbound inside lane, eastbound inside lane and eastbound left turn lane will be repaired in this project. These sections of the concrete pavement are deteriorating and have been exhibiting numerous surface failures that have been worsening over the past few years. The new pavement section will include an 8-inch dowel jointed HES (High Early Strength) concrete pavement over 8 inches of ODOT (Oklahoma Department of Transportation) Type A Aggregate base over a compacted base. Advertisement will begin before the end of January with a bid opening scheduled for February 25, 2021. Construction will likely begin in April 2021. The project is funded through the City’s Street Sales Tax capital fund.
The most difficult aspect of this project will be phasing the road closures and detouring traffic. This is the busiest intersection in Ponca City and, as such, has garnered the full attention of City Engineer Jim Fairbanks and Traffic Engineering Manager Mike Lane to plan for traffic control. The close proximity of the 14th Street signalized intersection and the vehicle turning movements through this intersection as well as the adjacent businesses and parking lots make it challenging to phase the project and provide for a quick construction time frame. Total estimated construction time for both phases of construction is 45 calendar days. To encourage the contractor to expedite the completion of the project a $2,000 per day bonus/penalty clause will be included in the contract.
Staff’s conclusion is that it would be most appropriate to complete the project in two phases. The first phase would involve the closure of all of the westbound lanes (north side of the road) from the west side of 14th Street to a point 350 feet west. During phase one, eastbound traffic lanes will remain open to traffic and continue to move uninterrupted. A construction timeframe of 20 calendar days is estimated for completion of phase one. During phase one, traffic will be detoured north on 14th Street to Knight Avenue, then west to 5th Street and then south back to Prospect Avenue. The northbound left turn lane on 14th Street will be closed to traffic during phase one.
The second phase will not begin until after the completion of the phase one repairs and the reopening of the phase one area to traffic. Phase two will close all of the eastbound lanes (south side of the road) from a point 350 feet west of 14th Street to the west side of 14th Street. During phase two, the westbound traffic lanes, will be open to traffic and will move uninterrupted. An estimated construction timeframe of 25 calendar days will be provided for the completion of phase two as it involves more concrete repair area than phase one. During phase two, eastbound traffic will be detoured north on 5th Street, then east on Knight Avenue, then south on 14th Street back to Prospect Avenue.
