Street project wraps in Somerton

SOMERTON — Flooding should be less of a problem in one of the original residential sections of this city, now that a street improvement project is being wrapped up, Somerton's public works director says.

CEMEX this week was concluding the street paving project on Cano Street and Federal and Congress avenues that included improvements to the city's Main Street Park.

“When it rained hard,” said public works director Samuel Palacios, “the intersection of Cano Street and Congress Avenue would be flooded because we didn't have a way to drain away the water. Now we have built stormwater drainage, that problem won't come up again.”

The $350,000 project included repaving the parking area serving Main Street Park, plus construction of sidewalks and planters at the park.

Palacios said the city is scheduled to seek bids within two weeks for another project to upgrade streets, build sidewalks and create stormwater drainage on the city's north side.

The work will take place on Spring Street between Somerton and Carlisle avenues, and on Union Avenue between Spring and Main streets.

“It's a medium-size project,” Palacios said. “The project has been sought for a long time. There are stretches that don't even have sidewalks, and the pavement is in bad condition.”

The project, estimated to cost nearly $660,000, is expected to begin no later than early February, said Palacios.

The city is using federal Community Development Block Grant funds for the work, he said.