MARQUETTE - Wright Street, which has been blocked off for much of the summer, finally opened to traffic today.
The project was supposed to be done Oct. 10 but city officials extended the deadline until Oct. 20. But even that extension was not enough to get all the work done in time.
"There were various delays. Some of it was due to the rain we had. You can't pave in the rain," City Engineer Keith Whittington said. "There were (also) some situations where the subcontractor who does the paving didn't have enough forces in the area to be able to commit to what we needed at the time we needed it."
Whittington said city officials are considering penalties - known as liquidated damages - against the primary contractor, Associated Constructors of Marquette, for not finishing the project on time.
"If they go past the proposed completion date we do have the option of charging them liquidated damages," he said.
If projects are delayed, Whittington said the city usually works with the contractor in establishing extensions "because there is stuff that is unforeseen, that they couldn't control, like rain."
Liquidated damages are always assessed against the primary contractor, Whittington said.
"If they feel it was the subcontractor's fault they can pass it on to the subcontractor," he said.
Workers replaced the old water main along Wright Street with a 12-inch water main because of fire flow issues in the area. They also replaced all the water laterals as well as all sanitary laterals of a certain type that have a history of failing.
The project replaced a lot of curbing and installed a five-inch thick, high stress asphalt mix to handle the heavy traffic volume on Wright Street, Whittington said.
The reconfiguration of the street's traffic lanes - which includes a lane going either direction, a center-turn lane and bike lanes on each side of the road - extends from Presque Isle Avenue to about Ontario Avenue. Passing lanes are still in place on the hill west of the Marquette Board of Light and Power building, Whittington said.
The reconfiguration was controversial when debated early this summer. The community and city officials were divided on whether the reconfiguration would be safe enough and be able to handle the same amount of traffic as it did with four lanes.
Mayor John Kivela said he is still concerned.
"It's a wait-and-see approach," he said. "We can always restripe it later but the majority of the (Marquette City Commission) felt this was a good thing to try. I'm not sure it's the right answer, but we'll see."
Whittington said he appreciated the public's patience with the project.
"I know it's been a long, long project and it's been a little taxing on everybody," Whittington said. "We hope when it's opened up everybody will see what a nice product it is and how safe it's going to function."
