A quarter-mile section of Old Lemay Ferry Road from the intersection of East Four Ridge and Frisco Hill roads to Regency Woods Place in Imperial will be fully closed beginning Tuesday, May 27.
The full closure is scheduled to end on Aug. 19, the day before Fox C-6 School District students return to class. The road will most likely reopen to at least one lane at that time, the Jefferson County Public Works Department reported.
The stretch of Old Lemay Ferry Road will be closed to traffic to allow construction crews to soften a sharp curve just north of Frisco Hill and East Four Ridge Roads without the added danger of cars on the road, according to a written statement from the Public Works Department.
Softening the sharp curve is one of the primary focuses of the project, which also includes adding 4-foot-wide shoulders and pouring high-friction pavement.
The project will cost $2,473,981.12, with a federal grant covering 80 percent, or $1,979,184.90, and the county covering 20 percent, or $494,796.24, with part of its share of a countywide 1/2-cent sales tax for road and bridge improvements, according to the Public Works Department.
“As the roadway will need to be shifted, there is a large amount of fill that will need to be placed along the inside of this curve,” the report said. “Due to the existing topography, it will take significant effort to construct this fill slope, and with the amount of traffic still traveling through the (current) work zone, it is extremely difficult to do this and keep both workers and the public safe. The closure will allow the contractor to work on this slope without the concern of traffic.”
Above and Below Contracting of Imperial was hired to complete the work and was the lowest of five bidders for the project.
Another closure
Another small portion of Old Lemay Ferry Road, from south of the East Four Ridge Road and Frisco Hill Road intersection to the Dry Fork Road and Kneff Road intersection, will be closed for two weeks to allow Above and Below to complete “exploratory work” for a proposed retaining wall, according to Public Works.
That section will be closed May 27 through June 9.
“The contractor has encountered more rock than originally anticipated during construction activities for the retaining wall,” Public Works stated. “By closing this section of the road, the contractor will be able to do some exploratory work to see what options are available with the wall construction, including different construction options.”
By June 9, at least one lane of that section will be open for traffic, Public Works reported.
“Pending results of the exploratory work, another closure of this section could take place in coordination with the north portion. In any case, the contractor has agreed to open this portion of Old Lemay Ferry Road to one lane of traffic by Aug. 19, before school starts.”