Your Opinion: McCarty Street progress

Dear Editor:

The Jefferson City Public Works Department would like to respond to the issues raised in the March 18 opinion section of the newspaper concerning the East McCarty project and its progress.

The contractor, Stockman Construction of Jefferson City, has performed many projects for the city through the years and has always completed them in a timely and professional manner. The McCarty Street project is no exception. Stockman is making good progress and appears to be ahead of schedule.

Through the winter the contractor has focused on completing the underground work on the project. This includes placement of the new storm water system and relocation of multiple utility lines. While not visible from the surface this is one of the most time-consuming tasks in completing a roadway corridor project. The good construction weather this past winter has allowed the contractor to progress ahead of schedule and only roadway pipe crossing remains to be constructed for the entire project.

The McCarty Street corridor project is a $3.5 million project and is a jointly funded City of Jefferson/Cole County sales tax project. The project began Oct. 17, 2011 and in accordance with the contract must be completed by Dec. 4, 2012.

The city understands the construction of any project and detouring of traffic is a major inconvenience to the surrounding businesses and homeowners. To inform the public of the roadway closures, the city issues press releases prior to adjusting the traffic control. The press releases can also be found on the city website at www.jeffcitymo.org.

If a business or homeowner would like to receive the press releases directly they may request their e-mail be added to the distribution list by contacting the Public Works Department. For questions concerning a city project the public should contact Public Works Department at 634-6410 and we would be glad to assist them.