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City Makes Deal With State on Lee Paving: ; Street Project Had Been Pushed Back to 2007

Posted on: Thursday, 22 September 2005, 00:00 CDT

balow@wvgazette.com

Charleston City Council members agreed Monday to spend about $25,000 to pave a section of Lee Street.

No big deal, you might think, except that Lee Street is part of a federal highway. It carries U.S. 60 traffic east through downtown Charleston. The state Division of Highways is responsible for its upkeep.

City officials wanted the state to repave a six-block stretch of Lee Street this fall, to complement work a contractor will do to fix up an aging Streetscape intersection at Lee and Summers streets.

DOH officials didn't plan to pave the street for at least another year.

"It was scheduled for paving in the fall of next year," said Dennis King, a maintenance engineer in the DOH District 1 office, which covers Kanawha and four other counties.

But projected budget cuts, based on tax revenues from gasoline taxes, pushed the paving schedule even further, King said - to the spring of 2007.

Mayor Danny Jones wasn't willing to wait that long. He asked City Engineer Chris Knox to make an offer to the state: If the city paid half the cost, would the state pave the street this year?

State officials agreed. Assuming DOH Commissioner Paul Mattox signs it as expected, city officials will hire West Virginia Paving to do the work. "After the paving is complete, the state will do all the striping at their cost," Knox said.

At meetings of City Council and council's finance committee Monday evening, Jones said he wasn't exactly happy about the situation.

"We shouldn't have to do this. If someone has a different idea, I'll listen," he said.

"We can tell our constituents about these state routes. We can make excuses. I, for one, want to do whatever we can. We'll pay half to get this paved. If we don't, it won't get paved."

Jones said he is willing to enter similar contracts to get other state roads paved in the city. "We need these roads paved. We have to bend financially."

Other than Lee Street, the state paved only one other city street this year - two sections of Washington Street West, apparently after publicity about the poor condition of the street.

"This year was kind of a lean year for Charleston," King said. "This year, it happens we're catching up on the rest of our counties. Next year, more work is programmed for Charleston. Last year, we did a number of projects in the city.

"My feeling is they always get their share of paving in comparison to the five counties we cover," he said.

Last year, for example, the state did about $1 million of paving on 7th Avenue in North Charleston and on airport hill along Greenbrier Street, King said.

It also paved around the Clay Center, Washington Street near the Elk River and a small section of Oakwood Road.

"Next year, our No. 1 priority is Kanawha Turnpike, which starts at W.Va. 61 east of Patrick Street," he said. Also scheduled are parts of Oakwood Road, Corridor G and MacCorkle Avenue in Kanawha City, he said.

John Walker, deputy state highway engineer for operations, said the state will receive $30 million more in federal funds this year than last, up to 12 percent more, through a federal bill passed last month.

"A lot of that could be eaten up in increased prices of materials," he warned.

Walker said he expects the state to pave about as much this year as in the past.

"But next near, we expect revenue is going to go down. We would expect paving would be one of the areas that will be affected."

Meanwhile, city officials have hired a Pittsburgh firm, Baiano Construction Co., to do about $500,000 of streetscape repairs. In addition to redoing the Summers-Lee Street intersection, replacing the brick with asphalt and colored crosswalks, the company will fix sidewalks where tree roots have created tripping hazards. It will also put in ADA-approved handicap ramps at several corners, Knox said.

Baiano has done similar work for the city in the past, he said.

To contact staff writer Jim Balow, use e-mail or call 348-5102.

Source: Charleston Gazette, The

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