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Public works outlines three-year utility project and a multi-year street paving plan
Summary
Public works staff told the Board of Aldermen that a three-plus-year utility replacement by Clear Construction will disrupt streets across downtown and prompted the city to coordinate a multi-year paving strategy and ordinance amendments to allow evening construction and alternative patching during work windows.
Public works staff described a long-term utility project, expected to extend more than three years, that will require substantial excavation and utility work across downtown Fayetteville. Staff said Clear Construction is the contractor for the utility work and will begin priority work around the town square, likely starting in April, with an intent to minimize business disruptions by scheduling significant work overnight and finishing cleanup before weekends.
To reduce repeated street damage and redundant patching, public works staff proposed coordinating the city’s paving schedule with the utility work so the city can grind to the base and repave after the utilities are in place. Staff said the city ordinance currently requires concrete patches; in coordination with the utilities the city would prefer gravel patching as an interim measure where the city intends to follow up quickly with full grinding and asphalt paving.
Staff said they are drafting a blanket paving procurement that would secure per-ton and per-foot grinding and paving prices for a one-year bid with optional renewals, modeled after a county approach that allows the contractor to hold the rate for up to two additional years. The goal is to use the same contractor for multiple years to improve continuity on a long-term program that staff estimates could be a five-year paving plan for the worst streets, while working around the utility timeline.
Public works asked the board to consider two ordinance amendments: one to permit after-hours work on specified blocks (to allow evening work on the square) and a second to modify patching rules during defined construction windows so temporary gravel patches are acceptable where the city will repave shortly thereafter. Staff said coordination with the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is required because work will intersect state routes including College Street and Mulberry Avenue, and the city will verify whether TDOT will share paving costs on state-controlled stretches.
Staff noted the city will present a paving proposal at a future meeting with detailed cost estimates and comparables. No formal action was taken at the work session; staff will return with a draft procurement and ordinance language for council consideration.
