Marty Gordon
Road closures, detours and orange cones have become the norm in downtown Christiansburg, but there is some good news just around the corner. Town staff told council members last week that all four lanes of North Franklin Street should be open from College to Main Street on Sept. 6.
Justin St. Clair, assistant engineering director of capital projects and utilities said that that stretch of road could see some normalcy in just a few days.
The project is for sewer rehab and replacement and has consisted of two individual work areas on Franklin: from College to Main, and from the Aquatic Center to Crab Creek.
“These improvements will increase the capacity by enlarging the diameter of conveyance with two separate methods of work being used by pipe bursting and open cutting. It also has included rock boring under Mill Lane and the Norfolk Southern Railroad with two creek crossings,” St. Clair said.
While it is not completed, the work will now move off-road, allowing North Franklin to be opened in the downtown area, thus easing traffic detours and congestion. Work will continue between Ideal Cabinets and Meridian Bird. Final paving may occur at a later date.
St. Clair pointed to the fact that this project realigns the current storm drain from under existing buildings to the center of street and includes two, 42” diameter storm drain culverts running parallel and extending from the town’s police station parking lot to an existing storm drain along North Franklin.
“This will reduce the risk of flooding to existing structures and provides adequate conveyance for the section of relocated drainage system,” he said.
The budget for the work was $1.654 million with final completion of the Hickok Street part of the project expected to be in the next week. Paving activities may remain and are weather dependent.
Work along Mill Lane and the railroad, according to St. Clair, will take longer due to rock encountered during bore operations. No road closures are expected for this work to occur.
But detours and congestion are expected further down North Franklin as a second storm drain and road project is in full swing.
The North Franklin Street Corridor project near the recreation center is just picking up steam and will reconfigure the five-legged intersection with a signalized intersection at Cambria Street. It includes a new signal light at Patrick’s Way and will add sidewalks on both sides of the roadway.
SmartScale Funding from the Virginia Department of Transportation covers nearly the entire project with the town’s match being only $12,968.
Roadwork began on June 5 and storm drain work has occurred on the east and west sides of the roadway from Patrick’s Way South. Under an agreement with the contractor, lane closures are only being allowed outside of morning and evening rush hour traffic.
The contractor has now mobilized his crew to the ramp area north of Cambria Street. Substantial completion is expected on or by early May of next year with final completion by June.
