Chestnut construction delayed

By Jeff Christian
The Collegian

Debate over the addition of a new water main has halted construction and sprung a leak in the Chestnut Avenue widening project.

More than four months have passed since construction began, and while Fresno State students have had to alter their traffic routes accordingly, Chestnut Avenue still remains a dirt lot —unpaved and unfinished.

“We hope to get remobilized here shortly with the contractor, but the delay has been due to coordination problems with the city of Fresno,” Auxiliary Services Director Deborah Adishian-Astone said. “The city wants to add a new 30-inch water main as part of the project so that they don’t have to come back later and tear up the road.”

Adishian-Astone said while coordinating with the city of Fresno, there have also been some delays with the final engineering and plan-check items that have been out of their control. Utility coordination with the city initially delayed the construction schedule earlier last summer.

The project was designed to alleviate traffic congestion created by the Save Mart Center as part of the Campus Pointe Development Project. Plans call for an extension of Chestnut Avenue from two to four lanes and will improve the intersections and underground utility infrastructure.

The first phase of the project, construction on Chestnut Avenue between Bullard and Barstow Avenues, started last July and was anticipated to be completed this January.

Numerous delays have pushed back the completion date for the opening and subsequent phases of the project which were originally expected to be completed at the beginning of the fall 2007 semester.

“We are not going to tear up any more of Chestnut until we get the Barstow to Bullard phase paved,” Astone said.

Construction for the Chestnut Avenue widening project was funded by a $4.67 million grant from the state’s Traffic Congestion Relief Problem and The American Paving Co., a locally-based Fresno company, as the contractor.

A telephone hotline number was created prior to construction to answer questions and concerns from the public regarding the construction process and traffic reports were dispersed through the university’s weather radio station.

Adishian-Astone said the telephone hotline has been updated to reflect the delays in the construction process.

While the intent of the project was designed to ease traffic problems and create a safer and faster roadway, far construction delays have simply increased some of the traffic problems.

Many students have had to alter their routes to campus and the construction has led to an increased number of frustrated drivers during peak traffic hours.

The closing of Chestnut Avenue also exacerbated the parking and traffic problems during the first two weeks of the fall semester.

While the original construction plans weren’t anticipated to have much impact on daily traffic throughout campus, the continual delays have had a much more significant impact than originally anticipated.

In addition to the current delays, construction is likely to be halted at times due to rainfall during the winter and spring months.

For now, the one-year project completion date seems unlikely and Fresno State students will once again be forced to navigate traffic around the deserted dirt roadway at the beginning of next semester.

“We recognize that it has gone on longer than we would like,” Adishian-Astone said. “But we have to go through the various processes with the city of Fresno.”

Comment on this story in the News forum >>