Residential Street Reconstruction Project Improves Thriving Neighborhood
West Point Road was reconstructed as part of the City’s pavement management plan.
West Post Road in northwest Cedar Rapids is a busy residential street running through the Cedar Hills neighborhood. As part of the city’s Pavement Management Program, they identified this street as one that should be considered for repair or rehabilitation. The analysis work and any necessary road design and construction costs would be paid for as part of the city’s Paving for Progress campaign funded by a 10-year Local Option Sales Tax (LOST).
As part of the design services provided by Snyder & Associates, a pavement analysis was completed on the existing roadway. This included removing core samples and performing an analysis of the subbase and subgrade. The results determined significant subbase and subgrade issues that were causing pavement failure. Also, the Portland Cement Concrete (PCC) roadway had previously been overlaid with Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) and was significantly deteriorated. The conclusion of the pavement analysis was that the most cost-effective, long-term solution was to reconstruct West Post Road from E Avenue NW to Gordon Avenue NW.
Storm Sewer System & ADA Compliance Upgrades
Along with the complete reconstruction of the street, the city also requested designs for a new, expanded storm sewer system in the area. The stormwater from more than 20 acres of residential housing and streets drain onto West Post Road. The new system was designed to accommodate existing stormwater runoff, meet the city’s design standards, and provide adequate capacity for connecting additional storm sewers from upstream locations once the road reconstruction was complete.
Since this section of the roadway runs through a residential neighborhood, it receives a significant amount of bicycle and pedestrian traffic. The new street design made accommodations to provide better access to the elementary school located on West Post Road, and a middle school situated adjacent to the project site. This included new ADA compliant sidewalk ramps and improvements to street grades that didn’t meet the city’s design standards.
As an area experiencing significant bike traffic, designated bike lanes were included in designs.
To minimize as many disruptions as possible during construction, careful coordination with the affected schools, a local church, neighborhood residents, and utility companies were all covered by the staging plan created by Snyder & Associates. Additionally, the project was phased into five bid packages, each having multiple construction stages. The phasing and staging helped to further reduce impacts to the local residents and schools. Construction around the school area was completed during the late spring and summer months when traffic to the school was low. The final project included more than 2,800 linear feet (over ½ mile) of new pavement.
