Buckeye Road construction to begin this summer, contractor selected

The City of Madison and Dane County project to reconstruct Buckeye Road is moving forward. The City of Madison Engineering Division received the lowest bid from Capitol Underground. Inc., a local contractor.

Capitol’s bid for construction was $6.26 million. The total project cost, including real estate, design and construction, is $7.9 million. The project is over budget by $700,000. The City and County will jointly fund the overage in accordance with the County Cost Sharing Policy. A budget amendment will be presented to the City of Madison Finance Committee on May 6. The amendment will move $290,000 of general obligation borrowing from an existing project, which has excess budget authority.

The project is expected to be approved by the Board of Public Works on May 8, then to Common Council on May 21.

The Buckeye Road reconstruction project is scheduled to begin mid-June 2019 and is expected to last through November 2019. This project spans from Monona Drive to South Stoughton Road.
The following will be completed in the six-month span:

• New curb and gutters
• New asphalt pavement
• On-street bike lanes in both directions will be added
• Parking lanes will be added in certain areas
• Spot replacement on sidewalk on the north side of street
• Sidewalk will be added to south side of street where it does not exist currently
• Curb ramp for accessing sidewalks will be improved
• Pedestrian activated flashing yellow lights on Buckeye Road along Frank Allis Elementary at Jerome Street and Davies Street will be added
• Pedestrian activated flashing yellow lights at the intersection of Buckeye Road, Maher Avenue will be added
• Street lighting will be added to the entire length of the project
• New retaining walls will replace existing walls
• Sanitary sewer main will be replaced for entire length of project
• Existing water main from Spaanem Avenue to S. Stoughton Road will be replaced
•  Storm sewer will be added to entire length of street

Traffic impacts

The street will be closed to through traffic and detoured during construction. The detour route is S. Stoughton Road and Cottage Grove Road. Even though the street is closed, access to homes, businesses and elementary school will be maintained. Parking will not be allowed in the street, in the work zone between 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Pedestrian access will be maintained on at least one side of the street at all times.
Pedestrian and bike access will be maintained across Buckeye Road at Lakeview Avenue to accommodate the Lake Loop route.

Bus detours

• Route 31 would continue to serve stops on Monona at Buckeye (regular route)
• Route 16 would detour along Cottage Grove, between Monona and Dempsey (skipping stops on Buckeye at Monona)
• Routes 16, 38 would detour along Major and Turner, east of Davies and north of Buckeye (skipping stops on Buckeye at Davies and Lakeview)
• Routes 16, 38 would continue to serve stops on Turner, south of Buckeye (regular route)
• Route 39 would detour, southbound only, along USH 51, between Cottage Grove and Buckeye (skipping stops on Depsey and Davies, south of Cottage Grove, and Buckeye west of USH 51).

Metro Transit would require parking to be removed, at least on the south/west sides of Major and Turner (as shown in map below), to permit two-way bus traffic along this detour. Metro Transit would generally anticipate crossing the Buckeye work zone, north-south on Turner (between Major and Allis intersections).
Short-term shifts to buses using Maher to cross Buckeye (one block east of Turner, if Turner is not crossable), should be feasible, with buses otherwise still operating between Allis and Major intersections.

Water shut-offs

There will be an average of two water shut-offs expected for each property within the project limits. A minimum of 48 hours of notice will be provided prior to the shut-offs. Each shut-off may last up to eight hours, but typically lasts about four hours. The existing main will remain in service until the new water main is installed and connected.

City, County Responsibilities
The project is funded using both City of Madison and Dane County funds. Property owners adjacent to the project will be assessed for certain items of work in accordance with City Ordinances and Policies.
 
The City has reached an agreement with Dane County on project cost sharing for Buckeye Road. The County will pay 43 percent of the cost of the road reconstruction and the City will pay 57 percent of the cost, in accordance with Dane County’s cost sharing policy. All maintenance will stay as it currently exists except the City will plow the road.

Timeline

• April 18, 2019: Construction plans posted for bid
• May 2, 3019: Contractor selected based on bid
• May 8, 2019: Board of Public Works will approve the contract for construction, assessments
• May 21, 2019: The Common Council will approve the contract for construction, assessments
• June 10, 2019: The City will host a public meeting prior to construction
• Mid-June 2019: construction begins

Links

• buckeye_metrobus_detourt.pdf
• Follow progress here on Buckeye Road Project
• Updated bus route detours

Images