Street Superintendent Reflects On 2022, Previews 2023 Road Projects
February 7, 2023 at 11:42 p.m.
Street Superintendent Reflects On 2022, Previews 2023 Road Projects
By David [email protected]
In his overview to the Warsaw Common Council Monday on what the street department accomplished in 2022, Public Works and Street Superintendent Dustin Dillon said there are approximately 103 center lane miles in the city and about 236 total lane miles.
“2022 was kind of a tough year. Prior to the mid-year raises and salary increases that you guys helped us with, we were losing employees to the private sector. Training was a constant process,” Dillon said. The street department also had to deal with supply shortages and the high cost of materials. “So there were some real struggles there.”
With the contracted crack seal, Dillon said they brought a company due to traffic control issues to do Ranch Road, Jalynn Street, Provident Road, Frontage Road, Winona Avenue and Eastlake Drive. Crack seal by city staff during the months of May, June and July consisted of over 50 different street segments including several housing subdivisions.
“Crack sealing is one of the most valuable preservation tools that we use. It keeps moisture out of our streets, preventing significant damage,” Dillon said. In 2022, a total of $87,762.50 on crack sealing was spent on Warsaw roads.
On 2022 micro-surfacing, Dillon said in District 1 Cook Street was micro-surfaced, from Main Street up to Arthur Street, as well as Lydia Drive. In District 2, McClellan and Country Club Road were micro-surfaced from Pope Street down to the bridge. Ranch Road from Fisher Avenue to the railroad tracks was micro-surfaced in District 3, while West Street from Lake to Fort Wayne streets was micro-surfaced in District 4. Shelden Street, from CR 300N roundabout to Ind. 15, was micro-surfaced in District 5. A total of $162,651.25 was spent on micro-surfacing in 2022 to improve the city’s roadways.
The city was awarded a Community Crossings matching grant in 2022 for Lindberg Drive, which was a full reconstruction project. It consisted of all new subgrade, stormwater system, new curbs, new sidewalks with greenspace separation, new asphalt and mailboxes. The project cost was $1,200,159.84, with the city’s grant award totaling $443,658, based off the original engineering estimate.
2022 was the street department’s third season with its brand-new paver, Dillon said. Paving completed in 2022 by city staff included North Bronson Street from Fort Wayne to Sheridan streets in District 1; South Scott, South Johnson and South Colfax streets from Center to Jefferson streets in District 2; Westpoint Drive from Ringneck Trail to Baker Street and West Baker from Westpoint Drive to Ranch Road in District 3 in District 3; Jefferson Street from High to Detroit streets on both sides of the tracks, as well as Lake to Indiana on both sides of the tracks, and Porter Street from Lake to West streets in District 4; and multiple alley segments also were paved.
“However, we shoot a goal to try to hit at least 10 different alleys all over the community and spread it out through districts,” Dillon stated.
The street department paved Mantis Skate Park for the parks department, as well as Pike Lake campground. Dillon said they paved 4,052.48 tons of asphalt in-house in 2022.
Michiana Area Council of Governments assisted with the street department’s Paser ratings for 2022, Dillon said. With approximately 103 center lane miles in Warsaw and approximately 236 total lane miles, with 23 miles of alleys, he said the city’s Paser rating average overall was 5.8 for 2022. Dillon said that rating was above the state average but not quite where they want to be.
“But all in all, for the struggles and the supply shortage and things, I’m very proud of what we were able to accomplish in 2022,” he said.
Mayor Joe Thallemer asked Dillon what the Paser rating may have started at. Dillon said the first year he had MACOG come in, the city was at 5.6.
“We’re constantly getting better. This year, you’ll see here as we go through the goals and stuff, we hope to be well over that 6.0 mark in 2023,” Dillon said.
For 2023’s road program, he said, there were over 17 snow events in 2022 and five so far in 2023 so they’ve had more time to go over planning. Over 30 road segments are set to be crack sealed in-house as soon as weather is permissible and dries out a little bit. There also will be approximately five contracted major road segments crack-sealed as well.
Roads to be micro-surfaced in 2023 include Shawnee Drive, Tecumseh Drive, Heather Court, Highlander Drive, Mockingbird Lane, Lark Lane and Chickadee Lane. “A lot of this is down in the Park Ridge subdivision, in and around that area,” Dillon said.
Also to be micro-surfaced in 2023 will be LaVista Drive, Dogwood Drive, Short Ridge Drive, Country Club Drive, Kelly Drive, Island View Drive, East View Drive, Lakeshore Drive, Market Street from Detroit to Columbia streets, Lilac Lane, Brubaker Street, Oldfather Street, Widamen Street, Webber Street, Alward Street, Ellsworth Street and Hitzer Street.
The 2023 in-house proposed paving projects will tentatively include South High Street from Market Street to Winona Avenue; South Indiana Street from Market to Winona; Warren Street; Nuthatch Drive from Highlander to Lindenwood; Fawley Street (the road to Kelly Park); Yarnelle Lane; South Wood Street from Center to Jefferson streets; South Scott Street from Jefferson to Smith streets; South Maple Street from Jefferson to Smith streets; North Indiana Street from Center to Fort Wayne streets; Clark Street from Parker to McKinley streets; McKinley Street from Center to Hendricks streets; Bayview Drive; Bronson Street from Center to Smith streets; North Bay Drive East and West.
“This is a lot of work to get done. One of our biggest goals is, now that we’ve had our paver for four years, the skilled labor keeps getting better and better,” Dillon said. “My assistant superintendent, Joe, is here. He’s been working with a lot of employee development across the board and this is something we’re going to take a lot of pride in and set our goals to be able to run a set-up crew as well as a paving crew coming behind.”
He said they’ve got a lot of work to get done this year but they’re excited about that.
The deadline for the 2023 Community Crossings grant was Jan. 27, but the city won’t find out until April if it will receive the 50/50 state grant, though Dillon said they’re “hopefully optimistic” that they will receive it. Included in the grant application was Center Street from Lake to Buffalo streets, including the southwest corner ADA ramp update; Buffalo Street from Market to Main streets; Ranch Road from the railroad tracks to CR 200S; Country Club Road from the bridge to the corporate city limits; and Jefferson Street from Bronson to Argonne Road. Dillon said he worked with city engineer Aaron Ott on the proposal. The engineer’s estimate was $816,118, so the city applied for a grant of $408,059.
Other 2023 proposed road work includes paint striping of multiple road segments after updating grading in the spring; road signage updates and new reporting abilities proposed; sidewalks, curb replacement and ADA updates; and approximately 10 alleys will be paved. A decorative street light project will hopefully be bid in March. April is refuse collection awareness month.
Dillon concluded his presentation by talking about the team building they’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks.
“Something that’s been huge for us in our mission statement that I proposed to the team is we are one team, this is one city, we have one goal and that’s to make a difference in our community. And that’s really what we’re going to strive for in 2023,” he said.
In his overview to the Warsaw Common Council Monday on what the street department accomplished in 2022, Public Works and Street Superintendent Dustin Dillon said there are approximately 103 center lane miles in the city and about 236 total lane miles.
“2022 was kind of a tough year. Prior to the mid-year raises and salary increases that you guys helped us with, we were losing employees to the private sector. Training was a constant process,” Dillon said. The street department also had to deal with supply shortages and the high cost of materials. “So there were some real struggles there.”
With the contracted crack seal, Dillon said they brought a company due to traffic control issues to do Ranch Road, Jalynn Street, Provident Road, Frontage Road, Winona Avenue and Eastlake Drive. Crack seal by city staff during the months of May, June and July consisted of over 50 different street segments including several housing subdivisions.
“Crack sealing is one of the most valuable preservation tools that we use. It keeps moisture out of our streets, preventing significant damage,” Dillon said. In 2022, a total of $87,762.50 on crack sealing was spent on Warsaw roads.
On 2022 micro-surfacing, Dillon said in District 1 Cook Street was micro-surfaced, from Main Street up to Arthur Street, as well as Lydia Drive. In District 2, McClellan and Country Club Road were micro-surfaced from Pope Street down to the bridge. Ranch Road from Fisher Avenue to the railroad tracks was micro-surfaced in District 3, while West Street from Lake to Fort Wayne streets was micro-surfaced in District 4. Shelden Street, from CR 300N roundabout to Ind. 15, was micro-surfaced in District 5. A total of $162,651.25 was spent on micro-surfacing in 2022 to improve the city’s roadways.
The city was awarded a Community Crossings matching grant in 2022 for Lindberg Drive, which was a full reconstruction project. It consisted of all new subgrade, stormwater system, new curbs, new sidewalks with greenspace separation, new asphalt and mailboxes. The project cost was $1,200,159.84, with the city’s grant award totaling $443,658, based off the original engineering estimate.
2022 was the street department’s third season with its brand-new paver, Dillon said. Paving completed in 2022 by city staff included North Bronson Street from Fort Wayne to Sheridan streets in District 1; South Scott, South Johnson and South Colfax streets from Center to Jefferson streets in District 2; Westpoint Drive from Ringneck Trail to Baker Street and West Baker from Westpoint Drive to Ranch Road in District 3 in District 3; Jefferson Street from High to Detroit streets on both sides of the tracks, as well as Lake to Indiana on both sides of the tracks, and Porter Street from Lake to West streets in District 4; and multiple alley segments also were paved.
“However, we shoot a goal to try to hit at least 10 different alleys all over the community and spread it out through districts,” Dillon stated.
The street department paved Mantis Skate Park for the parks department, as well as Pike Lake campground. Dillon said they paved 4,052.48 tons of asphalt in-house in 2022.
Michiana Area Council of Governments assisted with the street department’s Paser ratings for 2022, Dillon said. With approximately 103 center lane miles in Warsaw and approximately 236 total lane miles, with 23 miles of alleys, he said the city’s Paser rating average overall was 5.8 for 2022. Dillon said that rating was above the state average but not quite where they want to be.
“But all in all, for the struggles and the supply shortage and things, I’m very proud of what we were able to accomplish in 2022,” he said.
Mayor Joe Thallemer asked Dillon what the Paser rating may have started at. Dillon said the first year he had MACOG come in, the city was at 5.6.
“We’re constantly getting better. This year, you’ll see here as we go through the goals and stuff, we hope to be well over that 6.0 mark in 2023,” Dillon said.
For 2023’s road program, he said, there were over 17 snow events in 2022 and five so far in 2023 so they’ve had more time to go over planning. Over 30 road segments are set to be crack sealed in-house as soon as weather is permissible and dries out a little bit. There also will be approximately five contracted major road segments crack-sealed as well.
Roads to be micro-surfaced in 2023 include Shawnee Drive, Tecumseh Drive, Heather Court, Highlander Drive, Mockingbird Lane, Lark Lane and Chickadee Lane. “A lot of this is down in the Park Ridge subdivision, in and around that area,” Dillon said.
Also to be micro-surfaced in 2023 will be LaVista Drive, Dogwood Drive, Short Ridge Drive, Country Club Drive, Kelly Drive, Island View Drive, East View Drive, Lakeshore Drive, Market Street from Detroit to Columbia streets, Lilac Lane, Brubaker Street, Oldfather Street, Widamen Street, Webber Street, Alward Street, Ellsworth Street and Hitzer Street.
The 2023 in-house proposed paving projects will tentatively include South High Street from Market Street to Winona Avenue; South Indiana Street from Market to Winona; Warren Street; Nuthatch Drive from Highlander to Lindenwood; Fawley Street (the road to Kelly Park); Yarnelle Lane; South Wood Street from Center to Jefferson streets; South Scott Street from Jefferson to Smith streets; South Maple Street from Jefferson to Smith streets; North Indiana Street from Center to Fort Wayne streets; Clark Street from Parker to McKinley streets; McKinley Street from Center to Hendricks streets; Bayview Drive; Bronson Street from Center to Smith streets; North Bay Drive East and West.
“This is a lot of work to get done. One of our biggest goals is, now that we’ve had our paver for four years, the skilled labor keeps getting better and better,” Dillon said. “My assistant superintendent, Joe, is here. He’s been working with a lot of employee development across the board and this is something we’re going to take a lot of pride in and set our goals to be able to run a set-up crew as well as a paving crew coming behind.”
He said they’ve got a lot of work to get done this year but they’re excited about that.
The deadline for the 2023 Community Crossings grant was Jan. 27, but the city won’t find out until April if it will receive the 50/50 state grant, though Dillon said they’re “hopefully optimistic” that they will receive it. Included in the grant application was Center Street from Lake to Buffalo streets, including the southwest corner ADA ramp update; Buffalo Street from Market to Main streets; Ranch Road from the railroad tracks to CR 200S; Country Club Road from the bridge to the corporate city limits; and Jefferson Street from Bronson to Argonne Road. Dillon said he worked with city engineer Aaron Ott on the proposal. The engineer’s estimate was $816,118, so the city applied for a grant of $408,059.
Other 2023 proposed road work includes paint striping of multiple road segments after updating grading in the spring; road signage updates and new reporting abilities proposed; sidewalks, curb replacement and ADA updates; and approximately 10 alleys will be paved. A decorative street light project will hopefully be bid in March. April is refuse collection awareness month.
Dillon concluded his presentation by talking about the team building they’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks.
“Something that’s been huge for us in our mission statement that I proposed to the team is we are one team, this is one city, we have one goal and that’s to make a difference in our community. And that’s really what we’re going to strive for in 2023,” he said.
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