Construction season set to begin in Topeka

We are just a few days away from the official beginning of Topeka’s construction season.

One of the main projects this season begins April 1st. It continues work done on southeast Adams last year and closes the street from 33rd to 37th. Only residents will have access.

One day later, on April 2, SW Gage also will be partially closed.

"It will be down to two lanes. Currently, it's four lanes, two lanes north and south,” Brian Faust, City Engineer, said. “Anything we can encourage people to do to find alternate routes, it will make them a little bit happier and the road will get done quicker."

The City Engineering Department will also emphasize preventative maintenance to help keep water out of the pavement and limit pot holes during harsh winters.

"It's a plan that includes two steps, crack sealing and microsurfacing,” Keith Duncan, a project engineer for the City, said. “Those two together help keep water out of the pavement and from getting underneath the pavement, which is a major problem for us and results in what we've seen after this harsh winter which is a lot of pot holes."

The plan is to complete preventative maintenance in three year segments, then repeat as necessary.

"Last year we did, basically, the streets inside the interstate loop,” Duncan said. “This year we're doing the east [and] southeast side of the city. Next year, we will concentrate on the west and southwest side of the city."

The City will crack seal more than 125 lane miles, as well as microsurface 100 lane miles as part of the preventative maintenance.