Driving around Davenport will be complicated this year, but be patient. That's the message from the city's Public Works Department as it prepares to start working on more than 23 million dollars worth of street, sewer, and park projects.
Assistant Public Works Director Clay Merritt says the biggest project is East 53rd Street. This will be the fourth and final year of tying up traffic on one of Davenport's busiest streets.
"Once completed, we're scheduled to be completed in the fall, and when all is said and done, over this one year window we will have fully constructed and widened 53rd all the way from Brady to Elmore Circle."
Work is scheduled to start Monday, on the section from Eastern Avenue to Jersey Ridge.
Another major project will be updating the storm sewers serving 3rd and 4th streets, at River Drive downtown, to reduce the impact of future floods.
" So during instances of the flood, the flood actually comes in through the sewer system and then that's what floods out the roadway, and so we have to shut the roadway down for safety purposes because of that. So that particular four million dollar project will modernize the storm sewer system in that location."
Other major projects include re-constructing several major intersections, completing the new fire station on Brady Street, and the Duck Creek Sewer Extension - from Division Street west to I-280, and beyond.