- Main Street project digs up some interesting items as progress continues
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MAIN STREET WORK CONTINUES • Crews continue to work on the Main Street Project. Above, worker cuts through the wall on the south side of Salt Creek so that drainage pipes will be able to drain into the creek. Crews have been finding buried tanks and basements that were long forgotten.
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Though it is a bit more difficult to know how quickly the work is progressing in improving Nephi's Main Street, progress seems to be moving along according to time constraints.
"The contractor and subcontractor found it advantageous to deviate from the approved UDOT and city work schedule," said Randy McKnight, city administrator.
At the work session held earlier on Tuesday, UDOT asked that they and the city be given an updated work schedule.
"More sidewalk and gutter had been removed at once than had been originally planned," said McKnight. "That was done so the sidewalk and gutter would be ready to pour at the same time and is advantageous because it will require less trips in hauling concrete and less mobilization."
He said, as observers could tell, work crews had started milling the edges of the asphalt streets so that the street edges will not be higher than the concrete curbs.
The slope has been built up and the road has been moved down in depth so that there will not be a lip.
"The new asphalt will be the height of the gutter and not higher," he said.
The crews continue to find artifacts from the history of the city.
He suggested that council members go look at the historic photos of Main Street which are hanging in the hallways of the city building. They would give the council some idea of what is being found.
In addition to old pipes, he said, there are some interesting items.
"They have found some tanks buried in the street," said McKnight.
Some might be heating tanks but others are gas storage tanks.
"These are not the turn of the century welded tanks," he said.
Once in the early days of the city, an auto dealership was located along the west side of Main Street. That dealership had gas pumps in front of the building.
Max Bramall, resident, said that he remembered the auto dealership.
"There was a service station in front of Kasey Wright's current law office," said Mark Jones, Mayor. "The property belonged to the Judd family and some of the tanks that have been found were from that time."
McKnight is attending the meetings held with the contractor, subcontractor and UDOT and said that the new schedule will be available and that the council will continue to receive updates on the progress.
There is a telephone hotline for questions or concerns about the project (435-610-2373) and an email address is also provided (nephimain@utah.gov).
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