All of the chairs were filled in the Cook County commissioners room on Thursday, July 25, at 6 p.m. as people gathered to listen to Brad Scott give a presentation on the upcoming Pike Lake Road (CR 45) reconstruction project, and answer questions from the audience.
This was the third public meeting held on this topic, and Scott, who works for LHB and is the project engineer for the Pike Lake Road re-build, was there to talk about suggestions and ideas received from the public, as well as to talk about the ongoing progress for the final plans which should be completed in the fall or winter of 2020.
Project goals and objectives, said Scott, are to improve safety, repair and replace roadside drainage, improve access, improve serviceability and reduce maintenance and operation costs for 6.8 miles of the Pike Lake Road starting at County Road 7.
Priorities include lowering speed limits and maintaining the rural, neighborhood character of the road. Making key improvements at the intersection of County Road 7 and the intersection at County Road 44 and County Road 45, as well as improving the safety at Babineau Corner and repairing the steep slope and corner at Cascade River, said Scott.
Using information gathered at the first two public meetings and incorporating them into the engineering plans, Scott talked about ditching, dust control, replacing worn culverts, widening and sloping the road shoulders, fixing the drainage in low spots, as well as utility relocations.
Sight lines and sight distance improvements will be factored into the plans, said Brad, as well as fixing the soft spots that are now in the road. One thing that won’t be removed is the corduroy (wood) that was placed in a soft spot many years ago by the family who built Pike Lake resort. Brad said the wood will stay in place and the road will be built over it.
While there has been some debate about paving the road or rebuilding it to gravel standards, Scott said for now the plan is to gravel the road, but gravel it at a high enough standard so that if in the future the county wants to pave it, it can be done so without a lot of extra work or cost.
By improving the subgrade and adding 4/5 inches of gravel on top, the road should need less grading, said Scott. To lessen the dust, Cook County Highway Engineer Krysten Foster suggested that calcium chloride could be mixed in with the gravel when it was laid down. She said the county annually spends from $175,000 to $180,000 on calcium chloride and that would be for one annual covering for county roads.
Once the roadwork is done, it will be signed at 40 miles per hour with 35 miles per hour locations to minimize grading and right of way impacts.
So far land owner contacts and right of way discussions have been held, with the county and LHB staff reviewing that information and offers being made to owners after July 31, 2019 by Fed Ex overnight mail, email, or in person.
When asked about the difference in price of gravel versus pavement, and especially the maintenance costs for each type of road, Scott replied that it costs approximately $2.5 to $3 million per mile to pave a road and $1.5 to $1.9 million per mile to gravel a road. Total 50-year maintenance cost for a paved roadway is $3.9 to $4.8 million while it cost $2.7 to $3.7 million for gravel roads.
The maintenance expense includes crack seals (every three years), chip seals (two applications) and one mill and overlay. Cost to maintain gravel includes regular blading and re-graveling, according to the state Local Road Research Board.
The future price to pave Pike Lake Road, if that choice is made, is estimated at $1.2 to $1.8 million, said Scott.
The maintenance expenses Scott gave include surfacing only, with grading, clearing, grubbing and other construction work associated with building a roadway not included.
The overall projected cost to upgrade Pike Lake Road is $10 million to $12.5 million, said Scott, with 95 percent of the plans now complete. Final plans will be complete in the fall/winter of 2020 with the construction date still unknown at this time.
Foster also answered questions during the presentation.
Anyone who wants to submit question or comments to Brad Scott at brad. scott@lhbcorporaiton.com or call him at 218-279-2474 or contact Krysten Foster at krysten.foster@co.cook. mn.us or call her at 218- 387-3014.
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