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Michigan Street Utilities Upgrades Scheduled to Commence

Information Session planned for April 27 at 8 AM

[Duluth, MN] - The City of Duluth Public Works and Utilities department is partnering with Minnesota Power to replace electrical ducts, gas infrastructure, and water mains on a section of West Michigan Street in downtown Duluth between 1^st and 3^rd Avenues West. The project will ensure responsive and resilient utility services to customers. A public meeting was held in February to inform downtown businesses about the scope of the project in addition to several individual meetings. The City is hosting another information meeting this week on Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 8:00 AM in City Hall, Room 303 for anyone with questions before the work and street closures commence.

This week, the public can expect to see on West Michigan Street between 2nd Ave West and 3rd Ave West:

- All of the streets will remain open to traffic this week, however Engineering department has already posted no parking in several areas for the Contractor staging purposes.

- The contractor will also be setting up orange fencing along the sidewalks to keep pedestrians from crossing the street through the construction zone, and installing some plywood ramps on the sidewalk to allow safe passage over temporary piping some work areas.   

- Between 2nd Avenue West and 1st Avenue West several parking spots will be restricted for the contractor to set up a construction trailer and store some materials.

Monday, May 1^st, will be the official closure of Michigan Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues West which will also be the day Duluth Transit Authority (DTA) operations temporarily move to Superior Street.  Access to the US Bank will be available from 1^st Ave West and access to the DTA Parking Ramp will be available from 3^rd Ave West.

The utilities upgrade project has an anticipated completion date of October 2017. 

The City has had regular contact with impacted businesses and intends to provide regular updates as the project progresses.

A second project will be briefly presented at the information session, which is also planned along Michigan Street between 2^nd Ave West and 5^th Ave West to clean and line the sewer. This project will be coordinated with the utilities upgrades occurring to the east in order to be the least disruptive to the public. The lining project is a continuation of the work done along Superior Street last year and is expected to take place over several weekends, though not consecutively to accommodate major city events. Crews will not need to close the road but will have large trucks near intersections for access to manholes. More details will be available once the contractor is in place and a schedule is developed.

Road and utility projects can be tracked at www.duluthprogress.com

Project Contact:  Howard Smith, (218) 730-5092 or hsmith@duluthmn.gov 

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