The Locust Road Improvement Project is on the home stretch.

That was the report from City Engineer Jeremy Bril at Monday’s meeting of the Decorah City Council.

Bril stated the Pine Crest intersection will open at some point this week. “All the pavement is complete with the exception of a few driveway approaches and sidewalks,” he said. Yet to be completed are pavement markings, sign installation, backfilling, street lights and utilities, as well as getting into the joint utility trench.

Weather depending, Bril added, “I’m hopeful that in the next couple weeks, we’ll all get to drive on Locust Road.”

Street improvements: At a prior work session, the street department discussed plans for fiscal year 2022. Conversation included the timeline of repairs to East Main Street and Pole Line Road. Both are considered top priorities and have a place planning. Regarding East Main, Councilperson Ross Hadley said, “What floated to the top was East Main for me, mostly because of input from Todd (Ihde, Decorah water superintendent). It’s been on the laundry list for years and years.”Challenges to potential repair, added Bril, revolve around infrastructure and age.

“The water line there’s a four-inch main,” Bril noted. “It’s undersized and what we’d call ‘original,’ so 100-plus years old. Since we are planning street repair as part of the project, it is an opportune time to replace the water underneath.”Bril also suggested improvements to the sanitary sewer system on the street, recommending work can be done without entire replacement. Bril estimated the water cost at $90,000 per block, with similar expenditures for sewer. He gauged one block of street paving at $300,000.A brief dialogue by Councilperson Kirk Johnson centered on a 2008 discussion of facilitating a bike boulevard on East Main should other improvements occur. Johnson recalled that the street had been examined due to its route from downtown to the Trout Run Trail access via the fairgrounds.

“Has any consideration been given to the notion?” asked Johnson. “It’s time to look at that – and dismiss it – or adopt it. I think it might be worthy of at least some consideration whether the neighborhood would accept that kind of change or not.” Kirk cited “traffic calming” and the possible removal of stop signs along the street as benefits. No further exchange occurred on the matter.