Planning underway for Quincy street improvements

QUINCY — A project to improve connections between 13th Avenue Southwest and the rest of Quincy, and to accommodate development between 13th Avenue and Seventh Avenue Soiuthwest, is in the engineering phase. Quincy City Council members approved a change to a contract with the project engineers at the regular meeting Tuesday.

The vote was unanimous with no discussion.

The contract revision adds $78,300 to the original contract price. The original contract with Pace Engineers of Kirkland was approved in May 2021 and amended in September 2022 to continue through 2024. A construction schedule has not been announced.

Quincy City Administrator Pat Haley said 13th Avenue is a focus of development.

“That area needs some street improvements,” Haley said. “It’s growing there.”

Developers built about 20 houses in that area in 2022, he said. A second phase is planned for 2023.

The project will extend R Street Southwest from Seventh Avenue to 13th Avenue, according to the contract approved in May 2021. Currently that area is undeveloped.

The plans include extension of 10th Avenue Southwest to R Street, also currently undeveloped, and to a proposed extension of T Street Southwest. The 10th Avenue and T Street intersection would have a roundabout.

While the property is undeveloped, some of it is irrigated; the contract includes provisions to relocate the irrigation system.

All of the roads will have streetlights, gutters, curbs and sidewalks along both sides. New water and sewer lines will be installed.

A water line will replace an irrigation ditch currently running through the property. A detention pond will be added at Lauzier Park to collect stormwater.

The original design included relocating a Grant County PUD power line to accommodate the layout, but the contract change approved Tuesday removes the need for the relocation. A section of 10th Avenue will be redesigned instead.

The cost of moving the power line was projected to be about $430,000. Redesigning the roadway would save the city about $300,000, according to the contract documents.

The R Street extension will border Lauzier Park, the projected location of a new indoor sports complex. Quincy Parks and Recreation Director Russ Harrington said in an earlier interview that the indoor complex will be part of a larger development of both indoor and outdoor facilities in Lauzier Park.

Cheryl Schweizer may be reached at cschweizer@columbiabasinherald.com.