13th Street project to begin this spring

The Blackwell City Council met Thursday for a brief meeting and decided that the long-awaited 13th Street repaving project will start in March. The meeting began with reports from various city officials, including Chief of Police Dewayne Wood, who gave the Blackwell Police Department’s 2021 annual review of crime statistics.

That report is available to read in this issue of The Journal-Tribune. The Council approved awarding a $39,894 bid to Nafeco for the Blackwell Fire Department’s cascade system, which consists of several large cylinders filled with air that firefighters breathe when battling fires.

Next, the Council discussed the 13th Street Reconstruction Project from Chrysler Avenue to Blackwell Avenue with BHTA Holdings, LLC, and Evans & Associates, a Ponca City paving contractor. Evans & Associates officials suggested that, because of Oklahoma’s tumultuous weather, the project be started in July. That month has optimal temperatures for asphalt. If started in July, the project would be completed – weather permitting – in October.

The Council weighed various start-date options and concluded that the project should begin in March near Chrysler Avenue so as to not impede traffic at 13th Street and Ferguson Avenue during morning and afternoon school rushes.

“I think it’s safe to say that just about everyone is ready for 13th Street to be redone,” Mayor T.J. Greenfield said with a laugh. The audience was in agreement. Council members said the construction project would likely face hurdles, as far as Oklahoma weather is concerned.

The spring start date will allow plenty of time to hopefully complete the project before the start of the 2022-2023 school year, Council members said. The Council also approved an agreement for grant preparation for a new ambulance.

Fire Chief Cory Hanebrink spoke to the Council about the matter.

The meeting ended shortly after 7 p.m.