ShawneeDispatch.com

With work on the Downtown Streetscape under way, Dave Morris would like to send a message to anyone traveling through downtown: Excuse the mess for a little bit, but it will be better soon.

The chairman of the Shawnee Downtown Partnership is reassuring both those who commute through downtown and those who shop there that the partnership, the city and the contractor are working to make sure things will run smoothly and get done on time and won't hurt business or travel.

Though the beginning of construction had to be delayed because of Old Shawnee Days and a torrent of rain over the last week and a half, contractor Miles Excavating has made some progress on the project that is designed to revamp the downtown area.

"Even in that time, they got quite a bit of stuff done," Morris said. "They're making some good progress, and I think all the business owners are excited to see the work beginning."

To lessen the impact on businesses, the work is being completed in quadrants: first the southeast corner, then the southwest, then the northeast and finally the northwest.

Paul Lindstrom, city senior project engineer, said that although work could have started the week the Council approved the contract, which was May 25, the city decided to wait for Old Shawnee Days, so work officially began June 6.

Even with the almost-daily rains since then, Lindstrom said the contractor thinks the first quadrant can be finished in the contracted 37 days allowed for each quadrant.

"They still kind of worked in the rain a little bit," Lindstrom said. "We're anticipating now that the rain is done, they'll be out there quite a bit this week."

Morris knows the sight of orange cones can be daunting, but he hopes that downtown shoppers will continue to frequent businesses at the intersection.

He reminded the public that all businesses will be open throughout the construction and the work has been organized to make sure that all businesses are accessible. And when construction limits parallel parking, parking is available at Barton and 59th Street and in the City Hall parking lot.

"It'll be a slight mess for a little bit," Morris said, "but we're working as hard as we can to ensure that people can get to businesses and make sure the traffic flow is steady."

Though the project came in at a greater cost than originally anticipated, at this point Miles is moving forward with original plans, removing only the brick pavers planned for the middle of the intersection of Johnson Drive and Nieman and the brick-paver crosswalks for the intersection.

The rest of the project aims to create a more attractive and pedestrian-friendly downtown area around the intersection by adding brick pavers to sidewalks and bump-out tree planters along Johnson Drive.

A new traffic signal will be installed in the intersection, and a fountain will be built in front of City Hall. The total project cost is $2,293,424.