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"King Kong" Project Underway
02/02/2009 - “King Kong is about to visit our fair city and stay awhile”, quipped Mayor Mark Pipkin in tongue-in- cheek fashion. He was referring to the nick-name City employees have given to the major water and sewer replacement program now getting underway. The first two phases of the project will replace up to forty blocks of water and sewer lines over the next year.
The fictional giant gorilla King Kong wrecked havoc for awhile in the movies, and for the rest of this year, the sewer and water line replacement program will do its fair share of disrupting traffic flow in Eastland. “Indeed, we are going to have to tolerate some disruption, but the end results will be well worth waiting for”, Pipkin added.
Work actually commenced last Monday morning on the 1000 and 1100 blocks of West Commerce that is anticipated to last for the next 3 to 4 weeks. West Commerce will be closed from Oak Street to Ostrom during the day but will be open at nights. Once the 1000 block is completed, work will commence on the 1100 block. West Commerce from Ostrom to Madera will then experience the same closure schedule. The next street segments to be replaced will be announced soon.
City Commission member Jerry Mathews noted that this work is the culmination of years of effort by the City Commission, staff and others. “As much as we appreciate all the people pulling together to finally get this program off the ground, that pales beside our appreciation of the citizens of Eastland who are paying for this work”, Mathews said. “Thanks to them, we are now able to be proactive in replacing our aging water and sewer systems”.
The City Commission secured low interest loans for $3.4 million worth of the work, that resulted in a utility rate hike having to be levied last October in order to repay them and fund other elements of the “King Kong Project”.
“A huge side benefit of this project will be a considerable amount of street reconstruction”, chimed in City Commission member Norm Owen. “For example, South Daugherty Street has been high on our repair program for years, but we haven’t been able to address it until now. We’re thrilled that over the next year ‘King Kong’ will rebuild Daugherty from Main Street to Sadosa”, he added.
“Daugherty isn’t the only street that will see reconstruction, but it will probably be the highest profile part of the project”, echoed Commission member Richard Rossander. “However, we hasten to add that all the work will not commence nor be finished at the same time. Progress – and disruption - is going to occur in phases that will stretch out over most of the next year”, he added.
While travel disruption is inevitable, the City Commission has charged City staff to coordinate construction activity as much as possible and communicate well with the public. “We want to not only make certain every effort is made to coordinate the work, but we also want as much communication to our citizens as possible so everyone can try to plan ahead”, added Commission member Larry Vernon. He also urged citizens to take advantage of every opportunity to learn more about “King Kong” as details are made available.
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