Hoping to be completed by the end of June ...

The paving of a one-mile stretch of Makee Drive just north of Waukon is in full swing, with tentative plans for completion of the project by the end of June (weather permitting, of course), according to Allamakee County Engineer Brian Ridenour. The primary contractor completing the paving is Wicks Construction, Inc. out of Decorah with Croell Redi-Mix (one truck of which is seen driving out of the project area in the photo above taken by Standard Assistant Editor Joe Moses) from Waukon supplying the concrete mix. The grading and culvert work had been primarily done last fall by subcontractor Skyline Construction Inc. out of Decorah and allowed to settle during the winter.

Ridenour said the pavement is Portland cement concrete (PCC) with a depth of eight inches and width of 22 feet and a mile long, from Makee Drive’s intersection with Highway 9 (pictured above) east to its four-way intersection with Four Corners Road. Consistent semi and other heavy vehicle traffic causing maintenance and safety issues had been noted in an April 2016 public hearing as reasons the pavement project was added to the County’s five-year road plan at that time, with funding for the project coming from a combination of road use tax and property tax, similar to other paving projects within that five-year plan. Total construction cost is $1.1 million, with $620,000 of that being for the pavement itself, which will require 16,000 square yards of pavement hauled in by 355 truckloads. The paver machine (pictured below in the photo provided by the Allamakee County Engineer’s office) being used on the project is a GOMACO, which is Iowa-made in Ida Grove and is world renowned for slip-form pavers (no forms on pavement edges). Once the pavement is laid, finishing of six-foot gravel shoulders will bring the project to completion.