Albion village shifts paving plan with bridge closed until September

ALBION – With the reopening of the Main Street lift bridge pushed back a few months until September, the Village of Albion Department of Public Works is modifying its plan for street paving this year.

Jay Pahura, DPW superintendent, was planning to pave East Bank and Ingersoll streets, which have seen increased traffic, especially with heavy vehicles, due to the bridge being closed and traffic diverted to the Ingersoll lift bridge.

“That detour route has just been beat to death,” Pahura said this morning.

Those streets will continue to be in heavy demand until September. The DPW can’t shut down those streets for milling and paving because “there would be no where to put the traffic,” Pahura said.

The DPW will make some emergency repairs to those streets but an extensive repaving will have to pushed back until 2025.

The village this year will instead repave East Park Street from Main to Clarendon streets, and then side streets off East Park: Herrick, Temperance and Reynolds as well as repaving Orchard Street near the Lake Country Pennysaver. Orchard will have drainage added, too.

Pahura said the village uses CHIPS money from the state for repaving. Those streets with CHIPS funds need to hold up at least a decade. That’s why he didn’t have the East Bank and Ingersoll repaved before the bridge was closed. Those streets with new pavement would have quickly deteriorated and not held up for the 10-year threshold, he said.

The repaved streets will be milled with new pavement then put down. Pahura said the bids haven’t been opened yet for the materials.

The local towns and villages will coordinate a paving schedule for sharing equipment and scheduling the milling company and paver.