Fremont discusses plan for downtown
Thursday, September 1, 2011
FREMONT - Tuesday will be the day Fremont has hoped and planned for since 2007, as construction on the $854,000 streetscape project gets underway.
The streetscape will be financed by a $500,000 federal grant Fremont received from the Office of Community and Rural Affairs. Fremont will chip in with a $354,000 match. In addition, members of the community have added $10,000 in donations to the project.
The project's work will be done on Toledo Street from Tolford to Pleasant streets and will include new sidewalks, lighting, trees and some limited storm sewer work.
At a special Tuesday meeting, the Fremont Town Council awarded a construction bid to API Construction of LaOtto for $662,000. DLZ Engineering of Fort Wayne will provide engineering on the project for $90,000.
During a special meeting Wednesday, Casey Irwin with DLZ Engineering said the project will include sidewalk and road construction. "The majority of the work will be done in the next three months. We're required to maintain parking on the opposite side of the street (during construction)," Irwin said.
Doug Walker of API Construction said some Fremont streets will be dark for a few months as streetlights are replaced during construction.
"There's going to be inconveniences. If there's a problem, let us know," Walker said.
Walker said during construction, the plan is not to close more than one quadrant.
A bump out that was planned to be constructed near a town clock on Toledo Street was nixed by the Indiana Department of Transportation because of maintenance concerns.
The streetscape project has been in the developmental stages since 2007. During those talks, members of the community said they wanted reverse angle parking for safety reasons. That type of parking is scheduled to be implemented on the south side of Toledo Street between Wayne and Pleasant streets and adds six to nine extra parking spaces downtown.
In addition to the streetscape project, some storm water drainage work will be done in the area of Toledo and Pleasant streets. Fremont Town Manager Chris Snyder said the work will be done in the next three weeks.
The locations and quantities of benches, planters, trash receptacles and light poles will be evaluated.
Snyder said the construction schedule will be shared with downtown businesses and the Fremont Community Schools.
The streetscape project needs to be completed by June 2011, under terms of the federal grant.
Milling, paving, and striping is expected to be done on the project this spring.