Work on Elm St. progressing
Staff writer
Work to replace curbs and gutters and replace a too-small drain pipe at the base of Marion’s Elm St. hill is expected to be completed before Chingawassa Days, June 6 to 8.
Work began May 12. EBH engineer Darin Neufeld said weather had caused some slow days. Crews could work only portions of Monday because the ground and street were too wet.
Most curb not previously repaired from Lawrence St. to Main St. has been replaced. Areas where driveways enter the street still need to be done.
Underground drain pipe leading to Luta Creek was installed about 100 years ago, Neufeld said. The old 24-inch pipe, however, is too small for the amount of drainage, he said.
More paved streets and roofs in town increase the need for drainage with less area for water to soak into the ground, he said.
New pipe will be 42 inches in diameter.
Broken curbing and the too-small pipe caused a portion of Elm St. to collapse into Luta Creek in 2019.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture grant was used to mitigate the bank slide and repair some curb and gutter on the west side of the street.
The project being done now, using a 2022 grant, replaces the rest of the curb and gutter on the west side and all curb and gutter on the east side from Lawrence to Main St.
EBH’s parking lot also is being replaced, but the company is paying for that work itself.
Work on Locust upstream from the drainage ditch under Elm St. began April 7 and was mostly finished April 29. It still will get a metal railing along the edge of a drainage culvert.
Work on bridge will slow travel
Work on a US-56 bridge that passes over Union Pacific Railroad tracks north of Marion will mean traffic delays of up to five minutes, according to Kansas Department of Transportation.
Work began Monday and is expected to be completed early in July. Traffic signals will guide one lane at a time through construction at a reduced speed.