Construction on Fourth Street from Polk to Harrison avenues is 60 percent complete and should be substantially complete by the end of November.

Curt Buescher, Charleston public works director, said there would still be some minor work that would have to be completed in the spring.

“Everything has been going pretty smooth,” he said. “I’ve got people working on the job who are taking care of all the issues that come up.”

Buescher said as with a typical urban section, there are a lot of underground utilities the crew have worked around.

“They’re doing a lot of building around it, designing around it, holding up this pipe and sliding this one underneath it,” he said. “That’s pretty typical for some of those jobs.”

Crews began construction of the project in April. The road is being widened from about 23 feet to 26 feet, along with sidewalk replacement, and water and sewer work.

Buescher said with new sidewalks, the city is installing a retaining wall on the west side of the street eliminating the steep slope residents used to have to mow with their weed whackers.

The retaining wall would look similar to retaining walls located on Division Street.

The $1.45 million bid for the project was awarded to Feutz Construction of Paris at the March 18 Charleston City Council meeting. About 80 percent of the funding came from the Federal Highway Administration after the city partnered with the Illinois Department of Transportation in a Local Agency Agreement Federal Partnership.

Another project completed this summer, was the replacement of the Jackson Avenue Bridge at Division Street and Jackson Avenue.

Construction of the bridge was completed on June 30, Buescher said.

He said there probably would not be any major construction projects that require contractors in the city until at least 2010.

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In the spring, city street crews will widen out Polk Avenue between Sixth and Seventh streets.

Buescher said it is the type of project like Fourth Street, with repaving and widening the road, new sidewalks, new curb and gutter, and the installation of some retaining walls.

City employees will complete the job.

“I’ve been here five years, and this will be the first time we’ve done something like this,” he said.

City crews are more than capable of completing such a project, he added.

The plan is to reconstruct Polk between Seventh and Ninth streets the following year with city crews.

“Then we’ll turn the corner at Ninth and Polk, which is a really tight corner right now, and then we’ll head south on Ninth Street,” Buescher said. “That’s the plan until we get to Lincoln (Avenue).”

The next major road construction project the city is looking at is reconstruction of 20th Street, between Woodfall Drive and Garfield Avenue, which could be reconstructed during the summer of 2010.

Buescher said there is water main work involved with the project and that has to be done first.

Other projects public works has been focusing on include replacing driveways, replacing sidewalks, installing water mains, and maintaining the water and sewer systems.

Renovation of City Hall is continuing.

“We’ve still got some work to do in several of the interior spaces and the ceilings in several of these won’t be reinstalled until after the HVAC contractor is done,” said City Manager Scott Smith.

Hiring a contractor to complete the HVAC work won’t happen until October at the earliest, he added.

A crew of three city employees is finishing up much of the other work in the building.

Renovations of city hall included, installing a new elevator, adding windows to the building, installing a new faade on the exterior of the building and installing handicap accessible bathrooms.

Matt Hopf can be reached at 581-7942 or at mthopf@eiu.edu.

Scott Muth of the Labor Local 159 out of Decatur spreads rock along Fourth Street for the beginning of the new sidewalk that will be built. Repairs are expected to be completed near the end of November. (Robbie Wroblewski/The Daily Eastern News)

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