Share
Florida Street business owners might not want to take down their “open for business” signs just yet.
At yesterday’s pre-council meeting, Nick Amberger of the city’s engineering department presented a change order for more work to be completed from south of Emogene to north of the railroad, otherwise known as Phase 1A, in the amount of $48,316.93.
Florida Street will be completely closed again once the work around the railroad begins, according to Amberger. Once the city’s is aligned with the railroads, the work is expected to take three to four weeks, he added.
“They don’t work at our convenience. We work at their convenience,” Amberger told the council.
District 1 councilman Fred Richardson told Lagniappe there is no start date yet because of the scheduling intricacies involved with the railroads. Richardson represents citizens and business owners who live and work in the construction site north of Emogene Street.
Richardson told Amberger and the rest of council on Tuesday morning to avoid closing the street during the Christmas season if possible.
Both Richardson and council president Reggie Copeland – who represents District 5 or the portion of the site south of Emogene Street – asked to be updated as frequently as possible so they could maintain proper communication with the people in their districts.
The drainage repairs on Florida Street became a subject of controversy nearly two years ago.
In October 2007 the city announced plans for a five-month long drainage repair to the area because surrounding neighborhoods flooded often. Three months past the initially scheduled completion date and eight months total, the first phase of the project was finished. Subsequent phases just ended earlier this month, nearly two years after groundbreaking.
During the height of the road closure, business owners experienced repeated robberies, a freefalling drive-by clientele on the normally busy north-south route and problems with construction crews. Business owners, like Julie Wheat of Mrs. Wheat’s Treats had to close up shop temporarily, laying off all of her employees and tending to clients from home.
Eventually a class-action lawsuit was filed against the city on behalf of several of the business owners along Florida Street. That lawsuit is still pending.
maggie says:
May 01, 2009
12:29 PM
Having worked for a very large corporation in the past, when work was needed that could not be done by our own in house master plumbers, electricians, etc...due to the size of the project, it was bid out and our own professionals checked out the quality of the work. Who in a similar regard is overseeing the work performed for the city regarding the quality of the job and materials as well as the timeliness of the job? It makes good business sense not to hire enough permanent city employees to do these major projects but we have some excellant employees who could evaluate some of this in addition to the city coordinating projects better. If we do not have a civil engineer working for the city who can offer input, outsource that to a different company than the one performing the work so we are insured value for our dollars at the least cost and inconvenience to the citizens. Oh and just to prevent one civil engineer from getting too cozy, (and corrupt), rotate them and make all of this transparent Then IF the work is performed poorly, take legal action and not long after they problem is realized (as was done on the many leaks on the roof at Government Plaza which the taxpayers later paid for) Get the message Mayor and Council--do your job or be voted out.
downtowner310 says:
May 01, 2009
11:32 AM
I agree with the previous comments. If this were anywhere else the work would be done at night or after hours. The last time the road was closed there was never a sign of workers getting anything done. Why bother to close the road and keep working on it because by the time its finished there won't be any surviving business' around. If this were Airport Blvd the road would never be shut down, so why consider that here.
The least they can do is open one lane. Without cutting through neighborhoods it is the only cut through to airport boulevard between Fulton and Sage. Neighborhoods in the midtown area constantly have cars trafficking through to try to get to Airport. We pay taxes to have these roads fixed, not to sit on their asses and work when they feel like it.
bocfiend says:
May 01, 2009
09:30 AM
I live in The Pathways Apartments and have suffered through this for 2 years. Since they "finished" the section south of Emogene, the street's traffic has picked up some, but driving that section is like driving on a washboard going north and coming south you have to dodge manhole covers that are 6 inched above the road! In some places the road is already forming pot holes and the quality of the asphalt is questionable because it looks like sandpaper with its very large stones in the matrix.
I can tell you from observing the "work" that was done on this last section, the work crews worked an average of 2 days a week. There were several sunny days where there were no workers present at the site. And when they were there, they worked from about 10 am to 2 pm. The whole thing has been a shambles and I think the city was scammed by the company who did the work on this last part. I mean they sat at the corner of Florida and Emogene for 3 months! And they want to close it again without fixing the problems that are already there? Its time for Richardson and Copeland to resign from the council because you sirs, have been weighed and found wanting.
maggie says:
April 30, 2009
10:56 AM
It is all bullshit. Did they consult a civil engineer re this project and while I understand that the railroad does their work on their schedule not ours, hows about a little communication and coordination between projects.
For my own edification I did however research this a bit and civil engineering guidelines suggest options such as keeping one lane open, paving at night and after most business (As they did on Airport Blvd), as well as the use of rails/ramps to go around or over areas being worked on.
No forward thinking on our council or by our mayor. Heads should roll but sadly they won't until possibly election time for those who have opponents running against them. Too bad there is not more opposition to the ones who have been on the council too long. Mobile should have a long term plan for road construction for our routine maintenance and coordinate it with all utilities and railroad companies.
billybob says:
April 30, 2009
10:21 AM
Man, will this ever end. I believe I remember the contractor screwing it up the first time. But in the end the city isd responsible for the completion of the project. My condolences to the business owners in that area. A street closure in a time of recession. Wow!How do pay the mortgage under those circumstances
susan1945 says:
April 30, 2009
09:08 AM
This is absurd. I gurantee if this was Airport Blvd this would not be happening. Why don't
anyone respect the small business owners? I do not even travel that way anymore because
I do not want any damage done to my car. It's a mess over there. Councilman Richardson
asked to be keep abreast of what is going on but he needs to handle his business and DO
something about it. That is if he can stay on the ground and stop flying all over the place.
maggie says:
April 29, 2009
05:03 PM
Sometimes I think I may be wasting my breath but exactly why in the hell, in this terrible economic crisis can't a few more dollars be allocated for shells, red clay, etc...on the right of way for the sake of the business owners so that the street will not have to be completely closed once again? I do not know the topography of the area or if this is even feasable but I do know that these business owners have contributed much to the coffiers of the city and state for many years and deserve some consideration. If some egghead with some creative options could consider this not only for Florida Street but in general when work is being done in the business areas of our city. I know that if we were talking about street work being done on a dead end residential street the residents would not be forced away from their homes for three or four weeks. Yet the business owners may as well be forced from their's if they can't pay their mortgages.