Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Streets topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Greensburg council weighs repairs to W. Illinois Avenue and potential truck-parking restrictions
Summary
Contractor recommendations and council debate on W. Illinois Ave. focused on whether to rebuild sections, the cost of asphalt versus chip-seal, and whether to ban overnight truck parking; council asked staff to draft a truck-parking ordinance and agreed to localized patching pending funding.
The Greensburg City Council discussed repair options for W. Illinois Avenue at its March 2 meeting, with contractor Steve Heft of Heft & Sons advising the council that prolonged truck parking is the primary factor accelerating pavement failure and that only full-depth rebuilding or properly designed concrete approaches will hold up to standing truck traffic.
Heft told the council that asphalt performs well under moving traffic but deteriorates when trucks sit and turn repeatedly; he estimated a typical rebuild depth of about 6 inches where needed and cited an indicative asphalt replacement cost of roughly $33 per square yard, excluding subgrade work. Heft also said that simply repairing only the pavement edges would not be a viable long-term solution and warned that chip-based surfaces must be sealed to avoid water infiltration and early failure.
Council members and city staff discussed a range of options: targeted concrete pours at truck-turning intersections (notably the Quick Pick area), localized pothole repair using flowable fill and asphalt, and a broader prohibition on overnight over-the-road truck parking on city streets. Public Works Superintendent Mick Kendall described the intersection and patching techniques; Jason West and others noted a large hole on N. Grove Street that could be made safe with flowable fill and an asphalt cap rather than a full rebuild.
Administrator Stacy Barnes said repairing the two blocks most affected would require using reserve funds and asked council whether to pursue ordinance changes before repairs. Council consensus favored doing localized patch work (including flowable fill where appropriate) and directing Barnes to prepare a draft truck-parking ordinance for future consideration. Council also asked that any truck-parking restriction allow exceptions during declared weather emergencies, an accommodation requested by Police Chief Dennis Davis.
Next steps: Barnes will draft an ordinance restricting overnight over-the-road truck parking for Council review and staff will prepare a more specific repair proposal and cost estimate for the affected blocks; no formal funding vote was held at the March 2 meeting.
