This Monday, fences and orange construction signs descended upon downtown Juneau.
The second phase of the City and Borough of Juneau’s downtown street improvement plan got underway this week, turning Front Street into a construction zone. This leg of the project will repave the road and sidewalks while updating garbage cans and lighting as well.
Work is expected to go until June 1, Project Manager Lori Sowa said, with the bulk of the work expected to be finished by May 15. The $1,736,902.50 bid for phase two was awarded to Sitka-based CBC Construction, Inc.
The first phase of the project took place in spring 2017, repaving and improving South Franklin Street from Manila Square to Front Street. That project was slowed by weather delays but still finished around its projected completion target of June 1.
The second phase of the project is more involved than the first, dealing both with Front Street and with North Franklin Street. As a result, Sowa said, the city is doing this phase in two parts.
“It’s more work. It’s a bigger project than last year’s project on Franklin Street, so we split the work around the busy tourism season.”
The second part of this project is scheduled to begin Aug. 15 and run until the end of October, Sowa said. That part will work on North Franklin Street up to Second Street. The third and final phase of the project has not been funded yet, but plans to work on Shattuck Way, South Seward Street and Ferry Way.
For those interested in learning more about the project, Sowa is holding weekly meetings at the Heritage Coffee in the Baranof Hotel. They’ll take place at 9 a.m. every Tuesday. Sowa held the first one this week, and said there were a number of business owners and interested people in attendance.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.