Fifth Avenue will be resurfaced between William and Jefferson in conjunction with City Place
Following the recent resurfacing of Fifth Avenue between Huron and William in downtown Ann Arbor, another portion of the newly reopened street will get a fresh look soon.
The developer of City Place apartments is gearing up to resurface the portion of Fifth Avenue in front of the project, located between William and Jefferson streets.
An exact timeline isn't yet available, but it looks like it will be sometime after Art Fair at the end of July, said Homayoon Pirooz, head of the city's project management unit. He said there's a slim chance it could be done in the first half of July, too.
A bird's eye view of the newly reopened stretch of Fifth Avenue between Liberty and William streets in downtown Ann Arbor. The block to the south of here, in front of the City Place development, will be resurfaced soon, too.
Ryan J. Stanton | AnnArbor.com
In addition to simply resurfacing the street, underground utility work is involved.
The Ann Arbor City Council voted 10-0 Monday night to approve the installation of 147 feet of new water main along Fifth Avenue near the City Place project.
The city is paying a company called Douglas N. Higgins Inc. about $67,200 to install a 12-inch-diameter main. The site plan approved for City Place, still in the process of being built, included the upsizing of an existing 4-inch main fronting the site to a 12-inch main.
As a result, the developer was required to install about 515 linear feet of 12-inch main along Fifth Avenue from William Street to a point 111 feet north of Jefferson Street.
The developer is responsible for resurfacing the full width of Fifth Avenue for the limits of the water main construction.
Upon completion of that work, 147 linear feet of undersized water main in Fifth Avenue still remains to be upsized to 12-inch diameter to tie into the existing water main on Jefferson Street, according to Matt Warba, the city's acting field operations manager.
Warba said it's best for the city to extend the 12-inch main to Jefferson at this time, which would include upgrading a fire hydrant lead.
By having the work performed in coordination with the completion of the developer's work on Fifth Avenue, he said, it will eliminate future water service disruption to residents, upgrade fire protection in the area, and allow for complete resurfacing of the block.
Warba said the contractor for the City Place development, Douglas N. Higgins Inc., provided the city with a competitive price to complete the work, which also includes the replacement of the sidewalk ramp at the northeast corner of Jefferson and Fifth Avenue.
The City Place project includes two apartment buildings and a surface parking lot that take up most of the eastern side of Fifth Avenue from William Street south to Jefferson. Seven houses were torn down for the project, which remains a sore point for nearby residents.
Ann Arbor's Downtown Design Guidelines, adopted in February 2011, highlight the importance of Fifth Avenue, calling it Ann Arbor's "civic corridor," anchored to the south by the Ann Arbor District Library, the Blake Transit Center and Federal Building, and to the north by the Ann Arbor Municipal Center, Ann Arbor Fire Department and Hands-On Museum.
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.
Comments
Myles
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 10:31 p.m.
I hate when they re surface roads and the tones don't match
Veracity
Mon, Jun 25, 2012 : 2:25 a.m.
Since the increased water demands along Fifth Street is the result of the construction of City Place, the City Place developer should pay for the replacement of the water main and not city tax payers. This is an example of more government give-away or gifting and I wonder who else in the city will benefit from tax payer largesse.
Frustrated in A2
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 5:36 p.m.
5th Ave. again. Really...
Tom Whitaker
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 5:25 p.m.
The 400-500 blocks of South Fifth Ave. were originally included in the DDA's plans to improve Fifth and Division--making the streets less like expressways through town and more pedestrian friendly. http://www.a2dda.org/downloads/FifthandDivision/Fifth400_500S.pdf The DDA had originally planned to fund this work on their own using TIF funds, but then it was decided to combine the funding with the underground parking structure bonds. The budget for the Fifth and Division work was set at $7.1 million total, after some cuts were made, including the apparent deletion of the work on the 400-500 blocks of South FIfth Ave. When bids were let for the remaining work (called Phase 1, though no Phase 2 exists), they came in $1 million under budget. Where did that $1 million surplus go? http://annarborchronicle.com/2009/08/05/color-coded-construction/ This block has lost numerous street trees for various reasons over the years--especially on the west side. The trees on the east side have been damaged--both branches and roots--by the recent construction. Some of the remaining trees on both sides are diseased and dying. Cars and buses notoriously speed down this block in a race to beat the light at Packard. Now that the traffic is all "calmed" north of William due to all the DDA work, the light at William has become the "let-loose point" for a wide-open drag race the rest of the way. Ironically, this is where people live--the area that most needed to have the traffic calmed and pedestrians protected. Street trees, spaced properly, have been shown to help slow traffic. The City and the DDA ought to consider spending some of that $1 million bond surplus on this block--some street trees and a pedestrian bump-out or two shouldn't be that costly. In fact, I would be surprised if the entire original scope of work couldn't be installed for well under $1 million. In the meantime, how about a radar speed sign or at least some targeted enforcement?
Brad
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 3:59 p.m.
They're racing to beat the light at Packard? They how about they just re-time the light - problem solved without adding a bunch of impediments to traffic on the major N-S path through town. Why is it that our city is better at making streets bumpy than making them smooth?
Arboriginal
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 5:15 p.m.
City Place is hardly the bland architecture that the gripers were promising. I wish the other project had been built but oh well, I wasn't footing the bill. Time marches on, get over it.
Rita Mitchell
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 4:36 p.m.
"The City Place project includes two apartment buildings and a surface parking lot that take up most of the eastern side of Fifth Avenue from William Street south to Jefferson. Seven houses were torn down for the project, which remains a sore point for nearby residents." Residents nearby and across the city agree that tearing down historic houses for bland, non-contributing structures is a sore point. We need better processes and we need to follow the processes that are developed rather than to give the upper hand to developers who have no personal attachment to the city or to the outcome of their actions.
snapshot
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 3:54 a.m.
We have adequate procedures, we have council members that circumvent proper procedure to satisfy the whims of influential, self centered residents.
ChrisW
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 2:47 p.m.
They couldn't have done this while the rest of 5th was closed?
Madeleine Borthwick
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 5:39 p.m.
of course not chrisW, it makes too much sense
Ross
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 3:21 p.m.
Wow, yeah what terrible timing. I'm sure the city place development just wasn't ready for this step soon enough. Not to mention that the other 5th ave closure, for our big dig shame-pit, was never supposed to go on nearly as long.
EyeHeartA2
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 2:38 p.m.
lessee' here: 3-4 weeks * (5th avenue incompetency factor) = end of football season. I got the over. Anybody want some of this action?
Brad
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 3:58 p.m.
You mean the 2013 season, right?
xmo
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 1 p.m.
Yippee, More road closures downtown!
Madeleine Borthwick
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 5:37 p.m.
yeah xmo, I'm excited too. Let's run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it.....
jns131
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 1:57 p.m.
This was only a tease about reopening 5th street. It will be closed the remainder of the year. Maybe.
Brad
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 12:11 p.m.
Yeah, our 5th Ave "civic corridor" is so important that they let a bunch of amateurs run a huge project there which closed it down for over two years. Not a peep out of anyone about any accountability so far, either.
snapshot
Sun, Jun 24, 2012 : 3:51 a.m.
Accountability for what? Providing jobs, a tax base, housing? What are you providing for the city?
Wolf's Bane
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 11:32 a.m.
What other perks do we get because of City Place?
Brad
Sat, Jun 23, 2012 : 4:11 p.m.
Yeah, we never got anything from the "Germans" who used to live there. Not even an Oktoberfest.