Roadwork along South Church Street is expected to begin soon

An employee with the City of Aztec points on Wednesday to where a sidewalk will go on the corner of Church Street and Mesa Verde Avenue in Aztec. (Alexa Rogals / The Daily Times)

AZTEC Residents along the 300 block of South Church Street will soon have new neighbors: construction crews rebuilding or replacing sidewalks, curbs and gutters along the roadway just east of Main Avenue.

On Tuesday, Aztec City Commissioners approved spending $69,000 to have the road improved between South Mesa Verde Avenue and East Zia Street.

Bill Watson, the city engineer and public works director, went door-to-door to discuss the project with effected residents. On Sept. 17, he hosted a public meeting to share information and take questions about the roadwork.

Watson will also hold a pre-construction meeting on Monday with city officials and the contractor for the project, Carreon Construction.

A sidewalk is seen on Wednesday at the corner of Church Street and Mesa Verde Avenue in Aztec. (Alexa Rogals/The Daily Times)

Aztec Projects Manager Ed Kotyk said roadwork will start soon. Work to replace the roadway is expected to begin in the spring.

"(Monday's) pre-con meeting is with the city and the contractor not for the public and they'll go over the design plans and do a field visit (to Church Street) to make sure there are no surprises," Kotyk said. "They'll either start construction next week or the week after."

Church Street is typical of many of the older residential streets in San Juan County. It has cracked, sunken and intermittent sidewalks that often lack wheelchair ramps and a roadway layered with decades' worth of asphalt repairs.

On Wednesday, city workers started preparing for the upcoming project by moving a fire hydrant six feet east, away from the street. The hydrant, placed more than a half-century prior, was precariously close to the curb at the corner of Church and Mesa Verde Avenue. It was moved to make way for 4-foot wide sidewalks along the east side of the street, which is currently covered with lawns, shrubbery or yucca plants.

See the original post here:
Roadwork along South Church Street is expected to begin soon