Road work, gravel pickup begin Monday
By Terry Murry on Friday, February 25th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Public works crews will begin two projects on Monday that will impact travel. Gravel pickup will start on the North Hill and work on storm and water systems will commence on Southeast Byers Avenue starting at South Main Street.
Gravel pickup will begin at Northwest Despain Avenue and above from the Pendleton Center for the Arts to Pendleton High School. After that area is completed, work will move to the streets below Despain.
As work progresses, crews will be setting out yellow signs with red lettering for the target areas. If possible, people are asked to park vehicles off the street to allow the machines to work or to park in spots where the sweeping has already been completed. The city will provide public notices as workers move from one area of town to another.
In some areas the sweeper may make several passes in order to catch all the rock. The sweeper can only hold so much gravel, so the sweeper will periodically have to leave the area to empty the gravel at the city shops before continuing its route.
It takes four to six weeks to complete a full pass through Pendleton with its rented sweeper. The city also owns a vacuum sweeper which does not work as well with gravel. It typically takes eight to 12 weeks for the vacuum sweeper to cover all the streets.
The work Southeast Byers Avenue that begins Monday is expected to continue through April. Storm system upgrades will be done from South Main Street to Southeast Seventh Street. Water system upgrades will be taking place between Main and Southeast Fourth Street. The work is in preparation for the Southeast Byers Avenue street reconstruction project that will begin later this year.
Traffic control will be performed and detours will be provided. Public Works Director Bob Patterson said that city staff is communicating directly with the impacted property owners during the construction. There will be periodic closures of intersections along Southeast Byers. City crews will be working to maintain access to all properties as the utility work allows.
Upon completion of the work on Byers, city crews will move their efforts to Northwest Despain Avenue. More information on that project will be released at a future date.
