The Borough of Tyrone has announced that preliminary work on the Phase II Streetscape Improvement project is getting started.
Work was scheduled to start as soon as yesterday. Borough Manager Sharon Dannaway said on Friday that she expected the contractor to be in town.
In a public notice placed recently in The Daily Herald, the borough said the preliminary work would include the removal of trees, installation of storm water inlets and electrical conduit work. The latest phase will encompass the areas of Pennsylvania Avenue from 11th Street and 12th Street; Logan Avenue from Herald Street to the railroad underpass; 10th Street from the railroad underpass to Logan Avenue and 10th Street from Bald Eagle Avenue to I-99 Gateway.
Dannaway said Logan Avenue between Herald Street and 10th Street would be closed to traffic on Tuesday so the contractor can remove trees. She said that work should be done in time to allow vendors to set up for the Farmers Market along Logan Avenue on Wednesday.
Dannaway said she received assurances that would be the case. However, if the work is not completed, a contingency plan is in place regarding the Farmers Market. She said the event would be moved to the borough’s municipal parking lot next to the YMCA if necessary.
Last month, Tyrone Borough Council approved a bid to complete its Streetscape project and learned it had enough money in place to finish it.
Last year, council rejected bids for Streetscape Phase IIA when it decided bids had come in higher than expected. Instead, council decided to combine that portion of the project with Phase IIB in an effort to possibly get better bids.
Previously, Tyrone had been approved for $540,000 in Transportation Enhancement money.
Borough Manager Sharon Dannaway said Mayor Patricia Stoner received word the borough had been approved for $231,897 from the area’s Metropolitan Planning Organization. The mayor also learned Tyrone had qualified for $193,000 in special transportation money from Harrisburg.
Two bids were received at the bid opening in June for the project. One bid was from Glenn O. Hawbaker for $1,031,888.75 and another from Gordon L. Delozier, Inc. for $965,504. In early August, council accepted the low bid from Gordon L. Delozier, Inc.
Streetscape IIA will include West 10th Street running west of Logan Avenue also East 10th Street going east of Bald Eagle Creek; portions of Pennsylvania Avenue, from East 11th to East 12th Street and Logan Avenue, north of West 10th Street. Phase II B will include Logan Avenue between West Ninth Street and West 10th Street.
The project, originally slated for 2003, was delayed while approval was sought for propriety items for the project. For aesthetic reasons, the borough wants to use the same streetlights and fire hydrants as in the already completed portion of the Streetscape project. That first phase was completed in 2002.
