Blog: City Blog

Update on I-275 Business Park Improvements: Roadbed Graded, Stormwater Pipe Installed

Check out the quick work happening as part of the I-275 Business Park Access Improvements Project.

In less than two months, the roadbed for the extension of Blackstock Avenue has been graded. (The first photo looks south toward Fifth Avenue. In the second photo, the viewer is looking north toward Bernard Avenue.) Also, the existing Marion Street, where it ties into Bernard, has been demolished.

Blackstock extension, looking south

Stormwater infrastructure has been installed along Fifth Avenue, and more is scheduled to be installed continuing northward through the project area over the next few weeks.

Work on new underground utilities is about to start, and KUB is relocating utility poles on Baxter Avenue.

It's all part of a major overhaul of an underused commercial corridor. When completed, the upgrades will encourage new business investment.

The I-275 Business Park Access Improvements Project represents a $5.4 million commitment. A federal grant is funding 80 percent of the project.

Crews with Jones Brother Contractors are building a 1,100-foot-long extension of Blackstock Avenue, connecting West Fifth Avenue and Bernard Avenue. A 1,600-foot-long section of Marion Street between Bernard and Baxter avenues is being improved, as is a 650-foot-long section of Baxter, between I-275 and the railroad tracks by Second Creek.

The new section of Blackstock and the upgraded Marion will feature two 11-foot-wide lanes, curb and gutter, 5-foot-wide sidewalks and a 10-foot multipurpose trail from West Fifth Avenue to Bernard Avenue. Marion is being realigned from Dameron Avenue to Baxter Avenue.

This project is expected to be completed by September 2021.

Posted by evreeland On 31 August, 2020 at 1:37 PM