Russell Avenue Reconstruction
Project consists of undergrounding utility lines along Russell Avenue from Vancouver to Cascade Avenue, improving pedestrian safety, and installing landscaping.
Contract: NW Construction General Contracting, Inc. $713k
Progress: 100% Complete
Budget: $713 / $713 Spent
Funding: WSDOT Grant/TIB Grant
Planned Completion Date: July 30, 2020
Status Updates
June 3, 2020 - Paving will begin today at 9:00 A.M. Hopes are to get the Westbound lane of 1st St. and all of Russell between 1st and 2nd Street paved. Temporary striping will be put down tomorrow. Russell St. between 1st and 2nd street will be open for traffic Thursday afternoon or Friday depending on the progress and drying of the temporary striping. Curb and sidewalk prep and pouring are ongoing on lower Russell. When it comes time for paving on lower Russell one lane of traffic will remain open at all times.
May 27, 2020 - This week’s progress will consist of:
- "Flagstone Brown" colored concrete will be poured by the post office and one spot on the upper west end sidewalk.
- Curb and Sidewalk preparation on south end of Russell Street
- Asphalt preparation 1st to 2nd Street
- C.T.B. treatment Thursday
- Grinding existing asphalt June 2nd and 3rd
- Paving June 4th
- WAVE Broadband still has work to do removing communication lines from the existing utility poles. I have not been given a firm date as to when this will happen but I am hoping it will be very soon.
There have been ongoing discussions about the integrity of the native soil below the prepared road foundation between 1st and 2nd street. The native soil is holding water and causing the road foundation to deflect when driven on by heavy equipment. This was caused by the heavy rains that occurred after the existing road was removed and before the new pavement could be constructed. There is no guarantee that water will not infiltrate the native soil in the future. A decision was made to peel back the top 12" of ballast and construct a cement treated base (C.T.B.). This will lock in the ballast acting as a road foundation to bridge over the wet native soil. This comes at a cost of $7000.00 but is much less expensive than repairing asphalt at a later date and will allow Russell Avenue paving to proceed so that it may be opened to traffic.
May 20, 2020 - Last week's progress was slowed by weather. The waterline between 1st and Railroad Street was installed and will be tied into the existing water system by the end of today. Some concrete was poured in front of the post office and on the east side of Russell, however not as much as anticipated.
This week's progress will consist of curb and sidewalk demo and prep and storm drain installation between 1st and Railroad Street. Concrete will be poured as weather allows. We are still waiting on communication lines to be taken off of the power poles. I have been told that hopefully lines can come off the poles in two weeks. There are concrete panels on the west side of Russell that cannot be poured until the poles are removed. Paving of Russell between 2nd and 1st has been delayed until June 4th. This is due to weather and the availability of the certain asphalt mix that is required. Overall, the project is a month ahead of schedule.
May 7, 2020 - This week’s progress has consisted of:
- Waterline installation on the east side lane of Russell Street from 1st to Railroad St.
- Forming of sidewalk on east side of Russell between 2nd and 1st.
- Pouring of dark grey portions of sidewalk
- Pouring of Flagstone Brown color portions of the west side of Russell between 1st and 2nd.
Concrete pouring was delayed due to weather this week. Pouring will continue as scheduled next week. Paving between 1st and 2nd Street is delayed until May 13th due to the unavailability of the specified mix needed. Russell Street between 1st and 2nd street will remain closed until paving is done. Our engineers are concerned of possible road base damage if the road was to re-open while awaiting pavement. The west side sidewalk will be completed and open for pedestrian traffic in time for Mother's Day weekend. The East side sidewalk is open as well but there are voids in the sidewalk where colored concrete will be placed.
April 28, 2020 - This week's construction will consist of:
- Roadway Excavation (from 1st to 2nd Street
- Roadway Base (from 1st to 2nd)
- "Grey" Concrete Sidewalks (delayed last week due to rain)
- Colored-Stamped Concrete portions of sidewalk
Excavation for the water line on lower Russell will begin Monday of next week. One lane of traffic will remain open. If weather holds out there is a potential to have a base layer of pavement on the portion of Russell between 1st and 2nd street by late next week. If this comes to fruition, that portion of the road will open to traffic. We do have some rain in the forecast so we will see what happens.
April 21, 2020 - This week’s construction will consist of:
- Westside sidewalk pouring
- Eastside sidewalk forming
- Weather dependent Eastside sidewalk pouring.
- “Hot tap” for water main on South Russell Street
- Storm water catch basins South Russell
There will be three spots on the east side of Russell Street where sidewalk will not be able to be poured until power poles are removed. They are scheduled to be removed mid-May. Please keep in mind that the sidewalk pouring is ahead of schedule. Once the poles are removed concrete will be poured in these areas. A temporary ramp will be installed in front of the post office during sidewalk pouring to allow customers access however delays of a few minutes are anticipated while concrete is being worked prior to the ramp being set in place. Discussions of a Sunday pour maybe an option that is still being discussed. Asphalt removal from 2nd St. to 1st will begin Monday.
April 15, 2020 - This week’s progress will consist of:
- West Side mid-block curb pouring.
- East Side mid-block curb forming.
- West Side sidewalk forming.
- Under grounding electrical for street lights & 110 volt outlets completed.
Curbs and sidewalks on both sides of the road down to Railroad Street will be completed prior to the pavement being demolished and replaced. Once the pavement has been removed, a road base consisting of large gravel/cobble will be put down. Traffic will be able to travel on this road base. When the time to pave comes (not on a three-week outlook yet but stay tuned) both mid-block and lower-block sections will be paved roughly at the same time (hopefully within two-three days of each other). This will be done closer to the end of the project and coordination will be done at that time with business and residents on Cascade Avenue. One lane of traffic will remain open at all times on the lower block of Russell with the exception of a 4 to 5 hour window needed to let the pavement by the rail road tracks cool down prior to reopening to traffic. Passenger vehicles will be able to use the Kanaka Creek underpass. We will coordinate with businesses to accommodate for truck deliveries at the time of paving.
For residents and businesses located on Russell Street, thank you for being accommodating while your street frontage is undergoing construction.
