Culvert removal begins on island
Construction work to remove two culverts from St. Feriole Island began earlier this week. The city’s Public Works Department and the Crawford County Highway Department struck a deal to collaborate on their removal earlier this year. (Steve Van Kooten/Courier Press)
The open sections of the culverts. Pictures were taken in mid-May of this year.
Portion of Blackhawk to be closed until end of the week
By Steve Van Kooten
The City of Prairie du Chien Public Works Superintendent Nick Gilberts announced that two of the culverts on St. Feriole Island will be removed this week.
On the island, West Blackhawk Avenue from 4th Street to Villa Louis Road will be closed to traffic until at least Friday, July 18. While the Public Works Department and Crawford County Highway Department complete the removal, a marked detour will be used to access the island.
The city council approved the removal at their May 6 meeting. The estimated cost is approximately $8,500.
“This is something that has been on our radar for a while, but now it’s to the point that we have to do something,” Gilberts told the Courier Press.
Gilberts said the culverts were filled on the north side of the road during the early 2000s, when Blackhawk Avenue was redone.
The structures are remnants of when the road served as a thoroughfare to Iowa many years ago.
“The structures still remain there,” Gilberts said on May 6, “so they have to be inspected every two years by the Department of Transportation.”
City Administrator Chad Abram confirmed that the ratings for the both have come back unsatisfactory for the past two decades.
“We’ve recently been told that if we don’t remove the structures, they [the DOT] could shut down Blackhawk Avenue in that area,” Gilberts told the council.
City representatives met with the Crawford County Highway Department to discuss a joint project to remove them. Gilberts said removing the structures was the most cost-effective and permanent solution.
According to Gilberts, the county will bring in an excavator to remove the decks and assist with hauling the material away. City workers will then fill the area with gravel and apply blacktop.
The project will require work on the curb, gutter and sidewalks in those areas as well.
According to a memo from Nick Gilberts to the Public Works Committee on May 1, the city will use reimbursement funds from a Local Roads Improvement Program grant in 2021.
