Vine Street reconstruction moves into full-depth road rebuild
Fresh concrete curbs now line much of Vine Street as crews begin digging out the old roadway for its complete replacement.
The contractor is removing about 16 inches of asphalt, gravel and soil, clearing the way for a new road foundation and pavement between Park and Home streets, with the section between East College and Home to be the first section completed.
Heavy equipment filled the construction zone this week. An excavator loaded broken material into dump trucks while a bulldozer pushed and leveled the exposed roadbed. Workers also cut concrete and completed details along the newly poured curbs.
The excavation marks another major step in a project that has already included months of utility, drainage and concrete work.
Unlike a routine resurfacing project, where crews replace only the upper layer of asphalt, the city is rebuilding the full pavement structure. Once the old material is removed, crews will install and compact a new aggregate foundation before placing the asphalt and concrete layers that will form the finished street.
Vine Street has been closed between Park and Home streets since late May. The city has said it expects the street to reopen in early August, although weather and the pace of the remaining work could affect that schedule.
Much of the earlier construction took place underground.
The construction has been especially visible near Emerson Elementary School, where excavators, skid-steers, rollers and dump trucks now occupy much of the closed street as the rebuilding work advances.
The large red-brick school overlooking the project opened as the Vine Street School in 1896. Its castle-like towers remain a familiar Uptown landmark while the street and utilities around it undergo a major update.
A separate Columbia Gas project has also affected Vine Street. Earlier in the closure, sanitary-sewer work was underway south of College Avenue while gas crews installed new lines north of College, turning much of the Uptown street into a continuous utility and construction zone.
With the underground work largely finished, the curbs poured and excavation of the old road underway, the project has entered its final major phase, with paving expected to begin Friday.
Crews still must build the new road foundation, place and compact the pavement, add markings and signs, pour new sidewalks, and complete other finishing work before the full length of Vine Street can reopen to traffic.
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