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Road paving expected to be a ‘big improvement’ for city

Collin Smith

Repaving where?

• Ranney Street from 13th Street to Barclay Street

• Prairie Avenue from Seventh Street to Country Club Drive

• Country Club Drive from Seventh Street to Prairie Avenue

• Bilsing Street from W. Third Street to W. Second Street

• Lincoln Street from the dead end south of Ninth Street to 10th Street; and the dead end south of 12th Street to 13th Street

Repaving where?

• Ranney Street from 13th Street to Barclay Street

• Prairie Avenue from Seventh Street to Country Club Drive

• Country Club Drive from Seventh Street to Prairie Avenue



• Bilsing Street from W. Third Street to W. Second Street

• Lincoln Street from the dead end south of Ninth Street to 10th Street; and the dead end south of 12th Street to 13th Street



— The residents on Bilsing Street already know road construction’s positives and negatives.

“We were one of the first ones,” LeJuan Shoemaker said. “They were really slow getting our driveway back in.”

Shoemaker lives at 241 Bilsing St., where a month’s worth of new curb and gutter construction has taken place.

She has no worries about the future, however.

“I think it’ll be a big improvement,” Shoemaker said.

The city plans to start five more extensive road projects around town at the end of August or beginning of September. The total project is budgeted for $250,000.

Tentative plans had road construction beginning around Aug. 24, but recent rains delayed construction.

Craig contracted Elam Construction in June, a local company also paving the Wal-Mart SuperCenter parking lot.

Construction cannot begin for the city until Elam Construction finishes its Wal-Mart job, Craig City Engineer Bill Earley said.

The largest planned city project is on Ranney Street from 13th Street to Barclay Street, close to East Elementary.

There are two other projects close together on the east side of Craig, on Prairie Avenue from Country Club Drive to Seventh Street and on Country Club Drive from Prairie Avenue to Seventh Street.

The final project is planned for Bilsing Street, to start as soon as the new curb and gutters have been put in, Earley said.

“Everything but the Bilsing job will take about a week,” Earley said. “We have to rebuild (Bilsing) because the street is falling apart on us.”

There also are plans for a maintenance job for Lincoln Street, where the city will lay a thin layer of asphalt.

“The (thicker) mats (of asphalt) are for repaving roads that get a lot of use, like where we have school buses going down gravel roads,” Earley said. “We use the thinner layers when it’s just regular maintenance to keep the road (serviceable).”

The road construction process has been a year in the making, Earley said. He and his staff present a proposal to the Craig City Council, which then makes suggestions and modifications to the plan.

Afterward, the council approves the project’s budget.

“It’s just a little paving to make the city a little better,” Earley said.


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