Shutdown Accelerates Fish Creek Highway Project

Construction continues in Fish Creek. Photo by Len Villano.

Gibraltar Town Chair Steve Sohns said work on the Highway 42 and downtown street improvements in Fish Creek is moving faster than expected because of the shutdown. Crews have finished placing sidewalks and the retaining wall from Spruce Street to Hill Street. They’ve also finished placing many sidewalk and driveway aprons and have begun to place topsoil from Hill Street to Shore Road. 

“They’ve been able to do a lot of the town’s portion earlier because so many of the businesses are shut down,” Sohns said. That makes it easier to install sidewalks in front of businesses and pour driveway aprons. “There will probably be a lot more finished by Memorial Day than they had planned.”

Crews will also continue to grade, form and place sidewalk and driveways aprons from Shore Road to north of Gibraltar Road and install street-light bases. Beginning May 4 crews will place asphalt from Bluff Lane to County F, backfill curb and sidewalk sections form Windmill Lane to County F, and work on street lighting from Spruce Street to north of Gibraltar Road.

Sohns is hopeful that crews may be able to pave the town parking lot and other side projects commissioned by the town that aren’t part of the highway-specific portion of the project earlier than expected as well.

This progress does not mean the highway will open sooner than originally planned, but it may ensure that the side projects don’t drag further into the summer.