Meeting will address Monticello construction issues

The City of Monticello is planning a meeting to address the impacts of road construction projects on Main and Center streets this summer. The May 13 meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Monticello City Office, 17 North 10 East. The meeting is primarily for the business owners and others who will be impacted by the construction.

The project is a continuation of what Monticello City Manager Myron Lee calls the “Extreme Makeover Town Edition.”

Bids will be open on May 19 for the highway projects, which will rebuild Main Street from 500 South to 700 West and Center Street from the Main intersection to the Port of Entry. Construction could begin as soon as the winning contractor is able to mobilize equipment and work crews.

The major highways leading into and through town will be torn up, leaving access issues similar to last summer. Lee reports that the roads could be a mess through much of the summer and added that the Pioneer Day parade will likely need to be moved to another location.

Public work has already begun. Crews from Falcon Construction replaced the water and sewer infrastructure last summer, leaving behind roads patched for the short term. The problem was magnified in the Fall of 2008, when it looked as if funding issues would delay the major road reconstruction projects and leave the city with long-term mess.

Federal appropriations have helped secured the funds needed to complete the project.

In addition the prior and future projects, Questar Gas crews are continuing their work on the area and crew working for Empire Electric are replacing electrical system infrastructure.

In addition to the street construction, other projects in Monticello include the public works building, visitor center parking lot, bathrooms at the Veterans Memorial Pak pavilion and construction of a new swimming pool.

Other projects in the area include a chip seal project on Highway 191 north of Monticello, construction of a new airport (with a May 12 bid opening) and a new Highway Port of Entry north of Monticello.