The second public hearing concerning a plan to improve Seckman Road near the Mastodon State Historic Site in Imperial will be held next week.
The public is invited to participate in the hearing and learn more about the plan to widen and raise an approximately 1,000-foot portion of Seckman Road between the West Outer Road and the east entrance to the park out of the flood plain.
Jefferson County Public Works Director Jason Jonas said the meeting will be held from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, May 5, via Zoom videoconferencing.
The hearing is being held virtually because of concerns about the spread of COVID-19, he said.
Information about the project and a link to the meeting will be posted at
jeffcomo.org/calendar.aspx?EID=486.
Jonas said a Feb. 10 virtual public hearing on the first phase of the project attracted about 14 people.
“It went well, I thought. There were some good questions raised, and I think the consultants we had were able to answer those questions,” he said. “We’re hoping we get even more people to this next hearing.”
The overall plan is to widen Seckman Road from 22 feet (with two 11-foot-wide driving lanes) to two 12-foot lanes with an 8-foot shoulder on the south side of the road through the park, as well as 8-foot shoulders at the West Outer Road and at the Summerfield subdivision, and on the north side, a 3-foot curb and gutter along the bluffs.
“This will make (the driving lanes on) Seckman Road 12 foot from one end to the other,” he said. “It will be wider and much safer. By bringing the section out of the 100-year flood plain, it shouldn’t flood anymore, as people who drive the road know it does almost every spring.”
He said the second phase may present some challenges to overcome.
“There are environmental concerns, such as the possible existence of fossils that we’ve got concerns about. We’re working very closely with the park management.”
Construction of the first phase may begin in spring 2022, with work to be finished by the fall, and the second phase would occur roughly a year after that.
The estimated cost of the first phase is $1,242,000 and the second phase $1,202,000, with the federal government paying 70 percent through a safety grant, and the rest coming from the county’s share of a countywide 1/2-cent sales tax for road and bridge improvements.
Jonas said he believes residents of the area should welcome the improvements to a busy section of road that carries about 10,900 vehicles per day.
“This is a project that has been long overdue,” he said.