Lighting, staining, paving and railing: Updates on Mill Street progress

Catharine A. Dykes, PE senior civil engineer for the City of Grass Valley recently wrote the newsletter below to update the businesses and residents of Grass Valley on the progress of the Mill Street plaza in historic downtown Grass Valley.

Dykes newsletter below was shared by the Grass Valley Downtown Association on June 2 and is printed here in its entirety.

Hello everyone:

I just wanted to give an update on the work on Mill Street.

The last of the infrastructure work will be completed tomorrow with the concrete pour that is scheduled to start at 7 a.m. Sierra Foothills Construction will have their crews come out at 7 a.m. on Saturday to remove all of the caution tape and barricades in the sidewalk areas and clean up.

Gray Electric is scheduled to come in tonight at 9 p.m. to start the installation of the light poles on the block between Bank and Neal Streets.

The areas on Neal, Bank, and Main Street are scheduled to be paved on June 7, 8, and 9.

Everything after that will just be cosmetic work (staining of the concrete, landscaping, etc.).

We have had several complaints about how bright the street lights are. The streetlights that were installed are dimmable, but until the control panel has been installed, we don't have that option.

We are planning to decrease the brightness of the light pole fixtures once the controller has been installed so that we have a good level of light to prevent vandalism and theft at night, but not so much light it's glaring.

Unfortunately, the latest update by the electrician stated that the panel/controller pedestal is on backorder until August or September. So please, just bear with us and we will get it taken care of before the project has been completed.

I know it's frustrating seeing the staining area fenced off and no one working, but direct sun and heat are issues with the stain.

The stain being used is a liquid that penetrates the concrete. If it is too hot or in the direct sun while it is being sprayed, the liquid dries before it can penetrate.

The contractor who is doing the staining is coming in very early in the morning and working before the sun becomes an issue. He will be applying the color 3 to 4 times so what's there is not the finished product.

This means there will be approximately 4 days for the staining portion of the process.

Once the stain has been completed and approved by the City, he will spray the penetrating sealer one day and then has asked that we keep it closed for two days so that the sealer can fully cure.

As soon as that 48 hours is complete, we will remove the orange construction fencing.

Happily, even the one coat did cut down on the glare coming off of the plain gray concrete, which is much better in my opinion.

That large expanse of concrete was blindingly bright every day when I walked down the street.

On a separate note, the contractor is in the process of ordering the railing material for the street areas that are being rented by the businesses.

If you have not rented the space in front of your business at this time, but intend to do so in the near future, will you please let me know so we can make sure we have enough of the railing material/planters that will be used to delineate the areas.

We are only planning to install railing in front of businesses that sell alcohol as three sides must be blocked to create a delineated space as required for the liquor license.

That being said, we were told that the use of planters is allowed as it still blocks people from coming and going. The planters are 8’ long and made of corten steel and will be planted with perennial grasses.

We are planning to use both railing and planters to soften the effect in those areas. We are also planning to use planters to delineate the spaces for the businesses that do not sell alcohol.

After the staining is completed (and after the 4th of July festivities most likely), we will be marking out the location of these areas.

I will send out an email letting you know the day we plan to do that so that you can meet with me on-site at that time if you have questions or concerns about your area.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Catharine A. Dykes, PE

Senior Civil Engineer, City of Grass Valley

125 E. Main Street, Grass Valley, California 95945

Phone: 530-274-4352, Fax: 530-274-4399

[email protected]

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