Construction on Portions Of Tennessee Street Delayed

By: Carl Baker

Community Writer

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Construction on a portion of Tennessee Street, which was scheduled to begin this week, has been delayed. Tennessee Street from Brookside Avenue to West State Street has been rescheduled to begin Aug. 31. Construction began as scheduled on Aug. 10 from West State Street to Colton Avenue. Construction for each segment is expected to take approximately two weeks. Traffic will remain open on Tennessee Street during construction, but motorists should anticipate delays. Cross traffic on Tennessee Street will remain accessible; however, beginning Aug. 17, left turns to and from Tennessee Street between West State Street and Colton Avenue will be prohibited for up to one week. Right turn movements will be allowed for driveway accessibility while the new pavement is curing. Minimal delays are anticipated while paving is occurring in front of driveways. Once construction begins between Brookside Avenue and West State Street on Aug. 31, parents dropping of students at Arrowhead Christian Academy are encouraged to use Orange Avenue for Upper School students or West State Street from the west to Tennessee Street for Middle School students. Parents dropping students off at Redlands Adventist Academy are encouraged to use westbound Pine Avenue to northbound Tennessee Street. All construction dates are subject to change due to weather or other unforeseen conditions. The current phase of the PARIS repaving program will include resurfacing of approximately 90 lane miles of streets throughout the City. At the completion of the estimated six-month project, the City will have completed nearly 200 miles of lane resurfacing, or approximately 47 percent of the PARIS project. Work will occur in phases throughout various portions of the City. Completion is anticipated in October 2015. The road work is part of the City’s comprehensive street resurfacing program, the Pavement Management Program (PMP), adopted by the City Council in March 2012, and the Pavement Accelerated Repair Implementation Strategy (PARIS), approved by the City Council in September 2012. The PMP and PARIS together form a comprehensive infrastructure approach to address the City’s surface street rehabilitation, repair and maintenance needs. When fully implemented, the program will result in rehabilitation and repair of two-thirds of the City’s street infrastructure over a five-year period. The contractor, Matich Corp. of San Bernardino, was awarded a contract in the amount of $10,497,000. The project is funded through funds from Measure I, a half-cent sales tax approved by San Bernardino County voters to fund local transportation projects, and the City’s Local Transportation Fund. No General Fund dollars have been used to fund this project. The City of Redlands Resurfacing Program is designed and managed by the City’s Municipal Utilities and Engineering Department and is a cooperative effort with the City’s Quality of Life Department under the leadership of the City Council and City Manager. The City will make a concerted effort to minimize disruptions for residents and businesses in the project area. “No Parking” signs will be posted on streets indicating the dates when work will occur and when parking will be prohibited between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. However, access to properties will be available at all times. Trash collection will occur on normal trash collection days.