City to hold informational session on Spur Road reconstruction

posted on: 3/18/2019

The City of Dover will hold an public informational session on the upcoming Spur Road Reconstruction Project on Thursday, March 21, at 6:30 p.m., in the City Hall auditorium. Following the meeting, final documents will be prepared for bidding in April or May 2019.

The City of Dover began the design process on the Spur Road Reconstruction project in the spring of 2018, with assistance from Underwood Engineers. A previous public information meeting was held on July 18, 2018 to present the project's scope, identify the anticipated schedule and listen to input from residents. During the meeting, the public expressed an interest in a wider road that could accommodate pedestrians and/or bicycles.

Following the meeting, Underwood Engineers evaluated design concepts that incorporated pedestrian and bicycle facilities. Based on engineering standards, a width of 28 feet would accommodate bicycle facilities or a pedestrian path. Underwood also evaluated the impacts of a roadway larger than the current roadway, including tree clearing, embankment grading and fill, right-of-way encroachments, wetland impacts and financial constraints. A 28-foot road width requires significant changes to existing conditions and results in impacts well beyond the existing 21-foot-wide road. The proposed work for the 28-foot road was also well above available budget funding levels. Since Spur Road is a low-volume road, and it will see less traffic after the DOT project is completed, a roadway width greater than 22-foot is not warranted. After reviewing this information, the city elected to proceed with preliminary designs for a road width of 22 feet.

At this time, the preliminary design is completed and permitting is in progress.

If bid pricing is within available funding, construction is anticipated for summer 2019. Depending on final pricing, if additional budget appropriations from the FY 2020 Capital Improvements Program are needed, the project may be delayed until 2020.

For more information, contact Community Services at 516-6450.