County Manager's response to our query about the delay
To:
Arlington Heights Civic Association
Mr. Carlos Contreras
cc:
Mr. Bill Boyce
Mr. Russell Carroll
County Board Office (for the record)
On Friday morning, February 23, Arlington County engineering supervisor Carlos Contreras toured the work site on 6th Street between South Irving Street and South Glebe Road, accompanied by John Bian, Dudley Sadler, Mike Sobola, and Jay Jacob Wind.
The project, long requested by AHCA and citizens of 6th Street, will end localized flooding on 6th Street, including "Lake Irving" and "Lake Jackson."
Arlington County contracted the work to Granja Construction on
December 11, 2000.
The contract requires completion within 180 days, or
approximately May 11, 2001,
with allowances for bad weather.
Mr. Contreras showed us engineering drawings ("blueprints") of
the project
that are an integral part of the contract, but Mr. Contreras did
not have a
written narrative of the project like the following:
The work includes
1. Already underway:
Install new drain boxes at
5th and Irving (east side),
6th and Irving (northwest, southeast, and southwest corners),
and
6th and Jackson (northeast corner).
Installing the drain box
at the southeast corner of 6th and Irving
required taking up all of the sidewalk in front of 3116 6th
Street South.
Installing the drain box
at the southwest corner of 6th and Irving
required taking up most of the sidewalk in front of 3200 6th
Street South.
In both cases, the County provided several days' written
notice
to the residents. Mr. Contreras said that he personally
placed notices
and his business card in the doorways of all affected homes.
2. Replace metal rim of drain box at 3325 6th Street
South.
(The concrete portion of that drain box meets standards.)
3. Excavate a 5-foot-deep trench 5 feet north of the
center line of 6th Street.
The existing sanitary sewer line down the center of 6th will
remain intact.
Storm sewer standards require offsets of 5 feet
horizontally
and 1 foot vertically from existing sewer lines.
Excavation will begin at Glebe Road and move in stages toward
Irving Street.
A small section of South Irving Street north and south of 6th
Street
will also be excavated.
4. Install new 18"-diameter reinforced concrete storm
sewer line
in the excavated trenches. The sewer line will be the
deepest at Glebe Road,
rising with a 1% grade up to Irving Street to allow
gravity-flow.
5. Connect the new storm sewer to the main line under
Glebe Road
and to all the storm drains on both sides of 6th Street and
both north and south on Irving Street.
6. Remove the low-bottomed concrete valley gutters that
create Lake Irving
and Lake Jackson.
6. Pave asphalt over the entrenched areas of 6th Street
and Irving Street,
plus the areas of 6th Street east Glebe Road of currently covered
by concrete
in front of 3320 and 3325 6th Street South.
7. Install 5-foot-wide sidewalk and move stop sign at
northeast corner
of 6th and Irving, narrowing Irving street by 5 feet,
leaving intact the existing retaining walls.
8. Replace all sidewalk excavated or damaged during the construction.
At the end of the project, County engineering supervisor Bill
Boyce
will schedule inspections of the project area and direct the
replacement
of any sections of sidewalk that do not meet County
standards:
o Cracked
o More than 0.5-inch offset between panels
The contract does NOT include new curbs and gutter
on the east side of Irving Street, just south of 6th Street
(3116 6th Street South). When residents of 6th Street met
on July 18, 2000,
with County engineers Russell Carroll and Ravindra Singh,
we asked for that curb and gutter,
but the final contract did not include that curb and gutter.
In addition to the already-contracted work ...
Arlington Heights Civic Association requests, as soon as
possible,
that Arlington County install a curb and gutter at the missing
link
on the east side of Irving Street, just south of 6th Street.
We wish to know when the complete repaving of 6th Street is
scheduled,
according to the County's standard cycle. Farther east of
the project,
6th Street has many potholes and cracks.
Arlington Heights Civic Association also requests, as soon as
possible,
that Arlington County repave the south side of 6th Street
South
in front of 3204, 3208, 3212, 3216, and 3220 6th Street
South,
where repeated thaw-freeze cycles over many years caused the
pavement to buckle.
Arlington Heights Civic Association also requests, as soon as
possible,
that Arlington County replace the damaged section of sidewalk at
3317 6th Street South,
and the sidewalk between 3244 and 3300 6th Street South,
where the grade of the apron rises so fast that cars always
scrape
their mufflers extering the 600 block of South Jackson
Street.
(A legal note:
According to Arlington County Property/Boundary Maps,
the 600 block of South Jackson Street is legally part
of Arlington County's street system.
Click HERE for a dynamic map
which I have saved on our website
Click
HERE for a static map
In addition to being shown as County right-of-way on the
official map,
that block also has three County signs.
According to the map, Arlington County's right-of-way
extends
to the end of the straight line, the private driveway towards
Glebe Road.
)
We are grateful to Mr. Contreras for meeting with us on this
snowy day, and
we are also grateful to Mr. Carroll and Mr. Singh for briefing us
last July.
-- Thank you for your time, and thank you for your
consideration of our requests
-- Jay Jacob Wind, President, Arlington Heights Civic
Association
Mr. Jay Wind, President
Arlington Heights Civic Association
Dear Mr. Wind:
I am following-up on your concern relating to the construction project on South 6th Street.
Please find attached a copy of the report I received from the County Manager on this matter. It appears that staff is pleased with the contractor's progress to date and continues to monitor the project. If you wish to check on the status of this project in the future, please contact Carlos Contreras, Construction Manager in the Department of Public Works at 703-228-3584.
Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. I appreciate and share your interest in making certain that the Arlington Heights community is well served.
Sincerely,
/s/
Jay Fisette
Chairman
May 23, 2001
TO: Jay Fisette, Chairman, Arlington County Board
FROM: Ron Carlee, County Manager
SUBJECT: 102862/2004848
The following information is in response to Mr. Jay Wind's email of May 9, 2001, in which he expressed concern that the contractor on 6th Street South would not finish within the contract time. The contractor was allowed 180 days to complete the project. The notice to proceed was issued on December 11, 2001, with a projected completion date of June 11, 2001. The contractor had directed his attention to another County project in the three-week period mentioned in Mr. Wind's email. He has since returned and has been proceeding quite well. With the remaining amount of work and a normal number of days with inclement weather the contractor is projected to finish in about four weeks on 6th Street South, and in one week to mill and resurface South Barton Street. This is about three weeks beyond the original contract completion date. Staff will continue to press the contractor to complete the project.
The pipe, which was mentioned by Mr. Wind has been removed. Many of the huge cylinders (pre-fabricated manholes) have been used in the work. The drains have been opened as the pipe laying has progressed. The paving of 6th Street South is not included in this contract. It will be done by a separate resurfacing contract some time during the paving season. If Mr. Wind has any further questions concerning this project, he may call Carlos Contreras, the Construction Manager, at 703-228-3584.
See also our reminder to the County Manager of the outstanding projects in our neighborhood.