The stoplights at Fourth Street and old Highway 10, a feature of Staples since 1952, were taken down July 15, a casualty of the current old Highway 10 Turnback Project. Crews from Holden Electric of Brainerd are pictured taking down one of four light standards. This intersection, when the project is done, will have stop signs. Street lights along the old highway (Second Avenue) also came down this past week. New street lights in the downtown area will be similar to the new decorative lights along current Highway 10, but with shorter poles. (Staples World photo by Tom Crawford) There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Work is continuing on the Old Highway 10 turnback (Second Avenue in Staples) project, with crews from Tom’s Backhoe Service gradually moving the project westerly, one to three blocks at a time, from 12th Street NW., or the east end of the Staples project.

As one machine started tearing up old Highway 10 at Sixth Street on Monday morning, other crews were working on new curb and gutter on the far east end of the old Highway 10 turnback project. By week’s end, they plan to have that first three block section back to a hard surface.

After their meeting Monday evening members of the Staples Motley School Board and administration toured the renovations underway at the high school gym. The new concession area can be seen in the background. A counter will be installed with a rolling door that will come down from the ceiling to completely close off the area. In front of the concessions the lobby area will be open all across the front of the building. From left are board members Ken Swecker and Chad Longbella with Lynn Peterson, activities director. (Photo by Brenda Halvorson) Any one residence or business along the roadway, however, can expect to have their street ripped apart for about six weeks. That’s the message given Monday as engineers and other officials gathered for their weekly progress

report.

Engineer Tim Houle said Contractor Tom Thompson “... is trying to do the project up behind him.”

2nd Avenue, 9th Street to west of 12th Street

Curb and gutter work on the first three blocks of Second Avenue and on one block long sections of 9th and 11th Streets should be done this week, Houle and Thompson said. The first layer of asphalt paving for those five blocks should be going down on Friday, if all goes according to plans.

2nd Avenue, 6th Street and 9th Street

Tom’s crews will continue trenching and installing storm sewer, sanitary sewer and water main in this stretch between 6th and 9th Streets this week.

2nd Avenue, between 6th and 5th

Tom’s Backhoe crew will be trenching in sanitary sewer and water main in this stretch this week. The first part of this week included hooking up temporary water and street removal. They planned to stop short of the Fifth Street intersection itself until probably Thursday.

4th Street

Thompson said he expected to have at least one of his machines on Fourth Street by Friday of this week. They will start at the Sacred Heart/Post office (Third Avenue) intersection and begin removing the street surface and sidewalks along Fourth Street. This could happen Monday or early next week if weather or other factors delay the crews. They will work south to but not including the stop light intersection at Second Avenue.

The Fourth Street signal lights have been removed and replaced with a four-way stop sign. This intersection will remain open this week and into the first part of next week.

The Fourth Street signal lights are gone forever. They were first put up in 1952 and for many years were the only stoplights in Todd County. The four-way stop signs will remain in place at least for the duration of the street project.

Temporary water hookups on 4th Street from 3rd Avenue to 2nd Avenue will be done this week. Trenching for sanitary sewer and water main will follow. The contractor said he will have to see how this week’s progress proceeds before he decides exactly when to start on this segment.

When 4th Street is blocked off north of 2nd Avenue, there will be detour signs directing traffic to 3rd Street from 2nd Avenue up to 4th Avenue

Plans for the Fourth Street intersection or the one block from Second Avenue to new Highway 10 will be discussed at the next Monday morning progress meeting. Likewise for the remaining block (east of Fourth) of Second Avenue between Fourth and Fifth streets.

The Fifth Street intersection will remain open at the end of this week. Motorists wanting to travel north or south in the construction area will find crossing the old highway most easily at 12th Street, Fifth Street and west of Fourth, on Third or Second streets. City officials stressed to Thompson the need to keep other north/south through routes open since they were closing Sixth Street.

Once finished, the project will find all new street lights along the Second Avenue route. In addition, there will be new street lights between new and old Highway 10 on each street from Sixth Street to the west.

So far, the contractor has not experienced significant contaminated soils, but Thompson expects to find some soon. “We will stop just short of the Fifth Street intersection for now, he said, indicating that’s at least partially because they expect to find contaminated soil on the west side of that intersection.