First Street, Old Exeter Road to receive attention

Gwendylan Harmon Special to the Cassville Democrat

The City of Cassville is preparing for a busy summer of street improvements, with paving projects and upgrades near the Cassville Aquatic Center aimed at improving travel conditions, reducing dust and addressing long-standing concerns from residents.

Public Works Director Mike Hagins said the city focused this year’s paving proposal on some of Cassville’s roughest and most heavily traveled streets, including First Street and Old Exeter Road.

“What I did when we put the proposal together, we went through some of our worst streets,” Hagins said. “First Street is pretty rough.”

Hagins said First Street and Old Exeter Road were selected as the base bid because of both their condition and the amount of daily traffic they receive.

“First Street, Old Exeter Road, is the most traveled road in Cassville,” he said. “It’s getting pretty bad.”

According to Hagins, the city structured the paving proposal with a base bid and several alternate street options so officials could adjust projects depending on the available budget.

One of the alternate projects selected was Meadowbrook Drive, which Hagins described as another heavily used street, especially during the school year.

“We went ahead and picked alternate Meadowbrook Drive, which is a shorter run, but it’s pretty rough,” he said. “It’s a heavily traveled road, especially during school. That’s the road that a lot of the buses take to go between the elementary and the high school.”

As part of Meadowbrook Drive is owned by the school district, Hagins said the city will only pave the portion under the city’s ownership.

To avoid interfering with buses and school traffic, the city plans to complete the work after summer school is out.

The paving contract was awarded to Blevins Asphalt, and city officials are currently coordinating schedules with the company.

“We’re hoping mid- to late summer,” Hagins said. “Blevins Asphalt out of Mount Vernon got the bid, so I’m working with them and their schedule right now to get that going.”

While much of the paving work is expected to create minimal disruptions, Hagins said drivers should expect temporary traffic control measures during construction on Old Exeter Road.

“The one on Old Exeter Road, they’ll have to have traffic control on that road,” he said. “It’ll most likely be one lane while they’re paving.”

In addition to the paving projects, the city is also planning improvements near the Aquatic Center and yard waste site. Instead of fully paving the gravel road leading to the yard waste area this year, crews will apply a double chip-and-seal treatment designed to reduce dust and strengthen the street.

“We’re not paving the Aquatic Center,” Hagins said. “The gravel road that leads down to the yard waste, we are doing a double chip and seal on it to get a good base to future pave.”

Although future paving is being considered, Hagins said no timeline has been finalized.

Hagins said the gravel road has caused ongoing issues for both residents and Aquatic Center operations because of the amount of dust kicked up by vehicles.

“A lot of dust comes off that gravel road,” he said. “The dust was also causing issues for us because it would kick up, go over and settle in the pool.”

The chip-and-seal project is tentatively planned for the second or third week of June, depending on weather conditions.

The city intentionally avoided scheduling the work during Trout Fest to minimize disruptions during one of Cassville’s busiest weekends.

Although the project may temporarily affect access to the Aquatic Center area, Hagins said the interruption should be brief and should not significantly impact summer activities or youth sports.

“It might have to be shut down for a day, maybe a day and a half, to get it put in,” he said. “But it shouldn’t affect the little kids sports or the aquatic center activities very much.”

Hagins acknowledged that chip-and-seal roads are not always popular with drivers because of loose gravel during the initial application process, but he said the treatment is a much more affordable option than full paving.

“You know, at first, nobody likes chip and seal,” he said. “But this will help cut the dust down, because paving that long a section is very pricey.”

Hagins said the city’s decisions ultimately came down to balancing road conditions with responsible spending of taxpayer dollars.

“It is my responsibility to make sure taxpayer dollars go to the best — that we’re spending them the best way we can,” he said.

Hagins said the city receives frequent comments and complaints from residents about road conditions, particularly along Old Exeter Road and First Street.

“That is the road I’ve had the most complaints about,” he said. “The ones that we did not choose this year, they are our top priority next year, unless something else changes drastically and we have to do another road.”

Once construction is complete, Hagins believes residents will quickly notice the improvements.

“How smooth the road is, yes,” Hagins said when asked what residents will notice most.