Portion of Fifth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor to close for 4 days as other portion is set to reopen
Another portion of Fifth Avenue in downtown Ann Arbor will close temporarily starting later this week, while it looks promising that an already closed portion will reopen soon.
The two-block portion from Huron to Liberty Street will be closed to traffic during the work day from Friday through Monday while the road is resurfaced, according to a traffic control notice sent out by the city. Detours will be posted for southbound traffic.
The cross streets — Washington and Liberty — will remain open for the most part. When the paving is being done within the intersection, traffic will be directed around the block.
Fifth Avenue has been closed from Liberty to William since September 2010, but it is expected to reopen in the next couple of weeks.
File photo
Residents and businesses will be notified if a driveway is affected and through traffic will be restored at the end of each day, according to the city. Pedestrian traffic will be maintained.
The adjacent portion of Fifth Avenue from Liberty to William has been closed to traffic since September 2010 as part of the city's $50 million underground parking structure project.
With the project nearing completion, a first level of pavement already was laid in front of the Earthen Jar restaurant on Fifth Avenue and the rest is supposed to be done next week, according to Adrian Iraola, a project manager from Park Avenue Consultants.
He noted new sidewalks, curbs and gutters were poured in the last week, and he expects more work to continue into next week.
Amy Sullivan, project manager for contractor Christman Co, said Park Avenue is responsible for paving the portions of Fifth Avenue in front of Earthen Jar and the Ann Arbor District Library, and Christman will pave the portion that's above the parking structure.
Crews will be out paving Fifth Avenue all next week and the street should reopen by the end of May with the new garage substantially complete by the end of June, Sullivan said.
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
samshoe
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 1:36 p.m.
How about letting the residents and business people in this area know about the closure before they head into work on Thursday morning. This whole project has been a nightmare for those of us that live and work in this area. Please just let it me done!
Forever27
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 1:04 p.m.
i'd say we should fire the members of the DDA for this ridiculous boondoggle, but we as citizens don't even have that power. tell me again, how is the DDA even legal?
lugemachine
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 12:37 p.m.
I hope that Division between William and Liberty gets the same paving/sidewalk treatment. It's taken quite a blow from this project, with portions (particularly on the left side) settling into pretty severe dips.
Jon Saalberg
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 12:27 p.m.
I wonder if the DDA is also saying, these many, many late months later, that the nearby businesses are still weathering this construction nightmare without any serious financial worries. I suppose from a bureaucratic perspective, a year late is better than never.
Paul Epstein
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 11:32 a.m.
So my prediction of it opening sometime in 2018 is really no good, then? Awww...
Brad
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 12:40 p.m.
I wouldn't give up on that quite yet ...
Tex Treeder
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 11:28 a.m.
Like many others, I am more than ready for this project to be completed. It's been a long, inconvenient and expensive process, and the benefits have yet to be seen or proven. I'm just glad that despite the best efforts of the DDA, Jerusalem Garden and Earthen Jar remained open.
John Hritz
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 6:37 p.m.
It seems to me that Jerusalem Garden and Earthen Jar ought to get a tax reduction to offset the probable loss in business they've incurred. I note that we're pretty quick to give multi-year abatements for new (frequently chain) businesses.
Goodneighbor
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 5:36 a.m.
Mr. Stanton, as a service to the community, would you please find out and publish answers to these questions: In 2007 the DDA completely ripped up and rebuilt the Library Lot when it was a surface lot. That project included excavation, removal of earth, light poles, fixtures, etc. and replacement of all. What did that project cost? How long was that upgrade projected to last? Thank you. Also, you say..."according to Adrian Iraola, a project manager from Park Avenue Consutants." Was and/or is this Mr. Iraola an employee of the DDA? Did he leave the DDA and start up a company called Park Avenue Consultants? There has been some confusion on this matter. Didn't those banners say that the current project would be completed "August 2011" ? Thank you very much for your consideration.
Brad
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 12:12 a.m.
Funny thing is that on November 29th you ran a story: "South Fifth Avenue could reopen to traffic in January, says Ann Arbor DDA director" http://www.annarbor.com/news/south-fifth-avenue-could-reopen-to-traffic-in-january-says-ann-arbor-dda-director/ So on November 29th they thought the street would reopen in January, and now it's more like June. So in a month they got six months behind schedule. Nice project management there, DDA.
Brad
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 12:43 p.m.
Where's the accountability for this? Thousands of people are inconvenienced each additional day that the main N-S corridor through downtown is closed. Plus each additional day is costing the local businesses more money. So will our city leadership let the DDA be unaccountable in addition to being unelected? In the private sector someone would have already lost their job over a debacle like this. Yet something tells me that the mayor is "comfortable" with their progress.
DNB
Thu, May 17, 2012 : 12:47 a.m.
I guess they can blame the long, hard, snowy, winter we had ... oh, wait! ;-)