Delays plague Yellowstone project in Pocatello

There’s good news on the horizon for drivers in Pocatello who are dealing with the Yellowstone Avenue construction project, which is now weeks past the expected finish date.

The Idaho Transportation Department said the Utah-based contracting company Jack B. Parson is expected to finish the project by mid-October.

And as if the roads, which many equate to off-roading, weren’t frustrating enough for some drivers yet, ITD and Parson has been just as aggravated with the slow process.

ITD engineer James Orner said the heavy rains we were hit with in August and this past week helped delay the project even longer.

“It seems as if every time we get ready for a big paving section, we get hit with three or four days of rain,” Orner said.

On top of that, Parson has had its setbacks of its own.

Orner said the company was understaffed and didn’t have enough manpower out on the streets at night when they were working on the project.

But, now the company has hired more people so the process should speed up if the weather bodes well enough until the expected mid-October finish date.

“I think it has been frustrating for everyone involved: the contractor, ITD, and of course the traveling public and the businesses,” Orner said.

He added, the project is done with replacing the water line from Chapel to Flandro, crews already replaced the 18-foot deep sewer line along with large portions of the storm water system which was almost half of a mile long.

He said all of that needed to be done before crews could perform the full reconstruct from curb to curb which takes awhile since the contractor has to excavate the concrete and replace the base before the morning work traffic comes in.

Orner estimates roughly 30,000 trips per day are traveled along Yellowstone Ave., so night construction is the only option to avoid a bigger problem for drivers if they were to close it down during the day.

“If we put a lot of heavy traffic on the side streets, it’s going to tear those streets up and be dangerous for the public,” Orner added.

He said, Parson pays a $4,100 penalty day for each day the construction runs past its initial contracted finish date, excluding rain days.

So, unless the weather cooperates until the projected finish date, it’s going to be one long road ahead for Yellowstone avenue.