Street reconstruction incorporates sustainable designs

By Jonathan Oskvarek

City Editor

Publication Date: 01/27/2010

Construction on Cumberland Avenue started with the order of the West Lafayette Board of Works on Monday. With heavy work beginning in March, the project should be completed by October.

“Cumberland Avenue is one of the main east-west thoroughfares in West Lafayette,” Mayor John Dennis said.

Due to the magnitude of the project, Dennis said it will be completed in three phases.

The first step of construction on this vital roadway involves relocating utilities and detouring traffic, City Engineer David Buck said. As soon as the traffic is rerouted, the existing pavement will be removed. Adding storm water infrastructure and sub-grading will then follow.

Buck said current work is not restricted by weather conditions.

“Any grading, utility relocation and clearing that can be completed before the spring will only benefit the project schedule once we get into the normal construction season,” Buck said.

In March, the city will close Cumberland Avenue from U.S. Route 52 to the Salem Courthouse Apartments, closing the intersection of Cumberland and Kent Avenues until the end of June. Traffic will be detoured onto Win Hentschel Drive and Yeager Road. In July, the city will close the east end of Cumberland, which runs from the Salem Courthouse Apartments to Yeager.

All construction is scheduled to be completed by October, which, according to Buck, sets a hard pace.

“This is an aggressive schedule for a project of this size and complexity,” said Buck. “That’s why we want to get as much work completed (now) as we can.”

Simply resurfacing the road was not an option, Dennis said. Originally built on clay, an unstable material, the entire roadway must be reconstructed.

When completed, the intersection of Cumberland and Kent will be replaced with a roundabout – the first in the city. Buck said communities around the country are installing the roundabouts because of their heightened safety and environmental benefits.

The Cumberland project as a whole seeks to improve the city’s green profile. For example, existing pavement will be recycled by grinding it into aggregate. Additionally, rainwater runoff from the new road will be collected in biofiltration swales – V-shaped ditches – in the median and filtered in rain gardens. The water will then enter the existing detention pond.

“We have also incorporated green and sustainable design and construction practices into the project,” Buck said.