Owatonna's North Cedar Avenue to get much desired makeover

One of Owatonna's most infamous roads is ready for a facelift.

During the Tuesday night meeting of the Owatonna City Council, councilors happily awarded a contract to the Crank Creek Asphalt Division of Mathy Construction, of Faribault, to do a mill and overlay of N. Cedar Avenue, a street littered with potholes and often brought up in conversation about the worst roads in the community.

"This is a good project to get over with," said Councilor Kevin Raney. "That road is in tough shape."

Roughly 0.9 miles of the street, from the bridge south of 11th Avenue to the 26th Street Avenue roundabout, will be overlaid. The project contract was awarded at $282,115.

City Engineer Sean Murphy said there isn't an exact timeline for when the project will begin, but it should take less than a week from start to finish, weather permitting. He said there is also language in the contract that states the project must be completed during the summer months — when school is not in session.

Other street project updates

Street Maintenance (Crack Sealing & Seal Coating)

During the same meeting, the council approved other bigs for road projects this year, and rejected others.

Roadways in need of repair are first crack-sealed and then seal-coated. Approximately 4.99 miles are planned for crack sealing and seal coating in 2024. Pearson Bros, Inc. of Hanover, Minnesota was awarded the contract with a price of $202,067.

Four street segments are planned to be overlayed this construction season, including Rolling Green Drive SE, from Van Buren Avenue SE to Minnesota Avenue; Van Buren Avenue SE, from Havana Road to South Street; Phelps Street, from Harriet Avenue SE to Hillcrest Avenue SE; and Paris Place.

This project will be completed by a contractor that will do the preparation work and the Owatonna Street Department will do the paving. Steve James Excavating of Owatonna has been awarded the preparation portion of the project with a contract price of $82,200.

The council also rejected the bids for the 2024 CIPPS project, where only two bids came in significantly over the engineer's estimate, with the low bid coming it at 31% over.

Murphy said the high bids and low number of bidders could partially be due to the fact the city put the request for bids out "later than ideal" and companies likely already had their schedules booked out.

A CIPPS project is cured-in-place-pipe lining, involving a trenchless method for repairing damaged pipes that doesn't require digging. Murphy said it is a specialized and specific project that fewer contractors due, making the bidding project more competitive.