City council acts to get stalled street project moving

McALESTER McAlester city councilors hope they finally have the stalled Seventeenth Street project off high-center.

City councilors held a special meeting Monday night to consider and act on three change orders regarding the new street construction and infrastructure replacement along Seventeen Street, where no substantial work has been done for days.

Following a series of split council votes, amended measures and related maneuvers, a total of 20 more days have been added to the completion project moving it from the original July 8 completion date to the new July 28 date.

City councilors also approved paying a total of $35,177.75 for the project.

Both the contractor and engineer working on the 17th Street project blamed the work stoppage on fat clay and other unsuitable subgrade material, that is exposed whenever the street is opened for work, that will hold water for days.

The contractor has attempted to rip, dry and rework the subgrade material to meet the specification requirements with success throughout the majority of the progress limits, according to city documents.

However, there are isolated areas that are unsuitable and are not drying out, the documents state.

Resident Engineer Tammy Robinson, with a company called EST, and contractor Tony McDonald, of Austin Paving, the contractor for the project, both said Monday night they had specialists look at the problem.

Both specialists proposed the addition of a geogrid reinforcement to bridge the unsuitable materials in order to move forward with the project.

Robinson compared it to placing a board across a muddy street during the Wild West era.

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City council acts to get stalled street project moving