About 45 blocks of Perry streets will receive a new coat of asphalt starting Monday as Manatts Inc. of Brooklyn, Iowa, begins the city’s 2016 Street Improvements Project.
Manatts workers were out early Monday in the eastern parts of Perry, placing traffic control signs and making way for the milling machines that will remove about two inches of the city’s streets and replace it with a fresh topping of hot mix asphalt (HMA).
Area motorists can expect some minor disruptions to traffic during the construction, but they will be mostly limited to the daytime hours only.
Manatts placed door hangers at homes along the affected streets last week in advance of the project. Residents who park vehicles on the street are asked to move their vehicles before the work begins.
The scale of the work will vary from place to place around town, with removal of the existing surface, pavement patching and installation of the new asphalt. Traffic barricades will limit vehicle access during construction but will be open again for traffic at the end of the day.
“For everyone’s safety and to help the contractors build a great street, please be respectful of the barricades and avoid the construction areas as much as possible,” said Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson. The project is expected to last two weeks.
Peterson said the cost of the resurfacing project is about $850,000 and is being funded by revenues the city’s one-cent Local Option Sales Tax and the new 10-cent fuel tax increase approved by Iowa General Assembly in 2015.
With the fuel tax increase, Perry receives an additional $130,000 per year in Road Use Tax funds, Peterson said.
“It is important to city leaders to use these additional funds strictly for street improvements within our community,” he said. “In order to be financially responsible, a large multi-block project is more cost effective than a smaller overlay project each year.”
The city of Perry budgeted approximately $380,000 of Local Option Sales Taxes over the next three years to match the $520,000 in Road Use Taxes to pay for the citywide street improvements.
Perry’s Local Option Sales Tax Funds are earmarked solely for street projects, capital expenditures, grant matching funds and building and grounds maintenance.
For more information about the HMA resurfacing project, contact the city of Perry at 515-465-2481 or Matt Ferrier with Bolton and Menk Inc. at 515-233-6100.
Equally visible on Perry streets this week will be city crews picking up spring cleanup items. Area motorists are advised to use caution when passing the cleanup crews and their multi-vehicle groups.
