Bernard road work near finish

When will Freya Avenue and Bernard Street be barrier-free and replaced with liberated drivers?

Ken Brown, principal construction engineer of the street reconstruction and repaving project said the city expects Bernard to be done as early as next week. The more-complex Freya project should be finished in mid-October.

The original target dates for the $4 million bond-funded projects were the end of the summer. The original timetable for each project was about two months, which the city now admits was optimistic, especially for Freya.

Legal matters also were roadblocks in both jobs.

The Bernard project was delayed by about 2½ months as work on a one-mile stretch on Bernard between 14th and 29th avenues didn’t get started until the beginning of July. Freya road work began four months ago, on May 22, but stopped altogether for 10 days because of a utility pole conflict.

The Bernard delay was the result of legal wrangling between the city and a South Side citizens group opposed to removing 17 trees. The citizens lost their lawsuit against the city on June 30.

The big rocks on Bernard created additional work and another setback. A hoe-ram was needed to knock them lose.

Tom Arnold, city director of engineering services, said because the project was delayed from the start, contractors were unable to finish before school started. Because Roosevelt Elementary School is near the intersection of 14th Avenue and Bernard, the city wants to accommodate the school by not working on the two streets at the same time.

The Freya project, a 2½ mile-stretch between Hartson and 37th avenues, ran into a conflict about relocating more than 40 utility poles. Avista and other companies such as Comcast, Qwest and Time-Warner share the poles through a joint-use agreement. Each company has its own subcontractor. Brown said negotiations with the subcontractors stopped work for 10 days.

Both Arnold and Brown credit Avista for taking the lead and helping the city iron out the conflict.