A project to reconstruct part of Botham Avenue in St. Joseph will begin next month.
St. Joseph City Engineer Tim Zebell tells us they’ll be doing a complete reconstruction and replacement of infrastructure under the road.
“Botham Avenue from South State Street to Niles Avenue is going to be reconstructed,” Zebell said. “So when we reconstruct a road, that means we’re removing the entire roadway surface. Botham Avenue will look different when we’re done.”
Among other things, Zebell says they’ll be adding a non-motorized path, as envisioned in the city’s master plan.
“And it will be a non-motorized path on the south side of the road. On the north side of the road, there’ll be some, what I call, pocket parking places, and then the road will be a little narrower, which helps to control speeds.”
Those “pocket parking places” will be similar to what’s seen along Langley Avenue.
Zebell says the sanitary sewer line was replaced several years ago, but other infrastructure, like the water mains, will be replaced. That should improve water flow to the east side of the city.
The work is scheduled to start July 14, the same day a project to resurface Cleveland Avenue between Hilltop and Lakeshore Drive is set to start. Zebell says there will be a total closure of Botham during its reconstruction, although access to homes will be maintained when it can be. As for Cleveland, he says the road will be closed to through traffic.
A public meeting for everyone to learn more about the Botham project will be held at 6 p.m. on July 8 at St. Joseph City Hall.
The project is expected to wrap up in October.
