Glasgow Public Works Begins $300K Paving Project

Glasgow Public Works Director Rob Kompel and Mayor Becky Erickson recently provided details on a paving project set to begin Monday, June 6, and run for up to two weeks. The project is Glasgow’s first major paving and chip-sealing project in two years and will cost up to $300,000. “Our current focus is those streets in dire need,” said Erickson. According to a recent survey of Glasgow’s streets, Kompel said “our streets’ average for the city is currently D on an A-F scale.”

The causes for the road conditions vary, but one reason, provided by Kompel,was that last year’s quoted cost per city block would have been too high for the city to spend. As a result, the decision was made to save the funds for this year and get more done for less according to Erickson. In addition to having a larger-than-normal budget, conditions this year also reduced overall costs, and Glasgow will be paving three additional blocks than originally intended, according to Kompel and Erickson.

The current plan is to begin with Aberdeen and Lomond avenues, which recently underwent a series of sewage and water main improvements. Then the city will pave three blocks of 5th Avenue N between Highland Drive and 4th Street N, and one block each of 9th Street S, 4th Street S, and E Quartz Street. Additionally, the city will chip and seal seven total blocks on 4th Street S and 3rd Street S, which will add about five years of life to those streets.

“There is a lot of frustration on the homeowners’ end,” said Erickson. “We hope this will alleviate some of that frustration.” Erickson lamented the shortfall in funds compared to the needs of Glasgow’s streets. When asked the total cost of improving all of Glasgow’s streets, Kompel stated, “easily it would require about five million dollars to get everything up to snuff.” He calculated that at $2,083 per resident and he added that, “this would only get everything to the B to C range and would not include alleyways.”

As a result of the growing need for paving funds the city is considering implementing special improvement districts (SID) in an effort to fill the gap according to Erickson. “This will give property owners a say in funding for improving streets, and could increase our ability to fix more streets every year” said Erickson. According to Erickson the SIDs are about working with neighborhoods to do something, because the current way of doing things is not working. She did stress that it would require individual votes from homeowners inside each district and that it is only a plan.