Work continues on the Linwood, East Orange, and Old Alvin Drainage and Roadway Improvement Project – Packages 1 & 2. The $5.8 million project includes the conversion of Linwood Street, East Orange Street between SH-35 and Schleider, and Old Alvin Road between Plum and Town Ditch to concrete curb and gutter roadways with enclosed drainage systems and sidewalks, and the addition of a new water line on Linwood and East Orange.
Contractors have completed installation of water lines in the right-of-way on Linwood, and Orange between and Old Alvin. The drainage system, sidewalk, and paving on the north side of Orange east of Old Alvin have also been finished. This section of roadway is now closed to two-way traffic (as of July 31, 2017) and will remain one-way-only while installing pavement and driveways on the south side. Old Alvin Road is also currently closed to two-way traffic, with all traffic routed to the new pavement on the east side of the road in one direction only, both northbound from Orange to Town Ditch and southbound from Orange to Plum. The road will remain one way until all lanes are completed and are safe to be opened to traffic. Drainage and paving work on Linwood and East Orange between SH-35 and Old Alvin are scheduled to begin as soon as conditions allow. The City is actively working with the residents in the area to identify those who may be elderly or disabled, and will need to be accommodated during construction to ensure that they will remain safe and have continued access to their driveways.
Previously, in preparation of Hurricane Harvey, city officials ordered contractors to remove all traffic control devices except those necessary to provide direction to vehicles, to clear the site of all debris capable of becoming airborne, to clear the roadways of as much dirt and mud as possible, and to secure equipment and material at the contractor’s yard on East Orange. Four narrow trenches were dug across the existing pavement on Old Alvin and Orange to channel flow away from yards onto the new lower pavement. Each channel was covered with a steel plate. As the water continued to rise, Public Works officials dug the trench on the northwest corner of Linwood and Old Alvin deeper and further back to the existing drainage pipe and inlet to provide some relief. Public Works also actively cleaned debris from all storm inlets and removed storm grates to facilitate the flow of rising waters. As a direct result of these measures that were taken, to the best of our knowledge, while it was reported that storm water did enter some garages, no homes within the project area flooded.
The City moved forward with the design and construction of the project in August 2016. The project is part of the overall street reconstruction project in the Capital Improvement Program that consists of the rehabilitation, reconditioning and reconstruction of non-TIP funding eligible collector streets throughout the City. The specific streets are based on priorities derived through the Thoroughfare Plan, the Condition Assessment Program, traffic counts and types of traffic loads that roadway sees. The specific activity selected for each roadway may vary with the objective to maintain or improve the current average assessment score city-wide.
View the complete Capital Improvement Program to learn more on plans for street reconstruction.
Overall Project Limits
Project Map 1
Project Map 2
Project Map 3
Project Map 4
