50th Street and Grange Rd Improvements

The contractor has completed driving steel H-piles and sheet piles for the larger of the retaining walls. It was more difficult and took longer than expected. The small wall near the highway 100 northbound on-ramp also requires this type of wall. That work should be completed early next week. Work is starting now to remove material in front of the newly constructed sheet pile wall. The excavation will allow retain wall blocks to be placed that are similar in style to the walls around city hall. It will also create space for the traffic signal and wide sidewalk. This work is scheduled for the next two weeks. The remaining concrete curb and gutter, sidewalk and street pavements will be installed as soon as possible. Unfortunately, these delay pushed the completion date of the project back to late September / early October. We are aware of the Police Departments Open House scheduled for Thursday, September 26. The contractor will be required to open 50^th Street to allow that event to occur. That event is closing Eden Avenue. Our hope is that 50^th Street can be opened permanently at that time. Construction schedules and weather will dictate whether this is the case or not. Thank you for your patience.

The contractor will begin driving steel H-piles for the retaining walls next week. This operation will be loud. This work is tentatively scheduled for the next two weeks. If operations go well, the contractor will also be placing the retaining wall blocks on a similar schedule. After the walls are installed, the remaining concrete curb & gutter, sidewalk and street pavements will be installed. Unfortunately this delay pushes the completion date of the project back to late September. We continue to push operations so the new street can opened to traffic as soon as safe. Thanks for your patience.

As we have been reporting recently, the installation of two retaining walls along the north side of 50^th Street has not occurred. The soils were different then the soil borings indicated. The contractor and engineers have determined a H-pile wall should work. This operation will be loud. This work is tentatively scheduled to occur at the end of next week and early the week of August 19. This work requires large equipment that needs all of the westbound lanes to operate. After the walls are installed, the remaining concrete curb & gutter, sidewalk and street pavements will be installed. Unfortunately this delay pushes the completion date of the project back to late September. We continue to push operations so the new street can opened to traffic as soon as safe for both the traveling public and the contractor. Thanks for your patience

We reported challenges to the installation of two retaining walls along the north side of 50^th Street. The soils were different then the soil borings indicated. The contractor and engineers have determined a H-pile wall should work. Final analysis is being done now with installation occurring shortly after. This operation will be loud. As soon as a schedule is known, we will update the BetterTogetherEdina website. The contractor was able to install a majority of the concrete curb and gutter this week. Median concrete and sidewalks are also occurring. Opening the new street to traffic as soon as safe continues to be a priority.

The installation of two sheet pile walls did not go according to plan. The soils were different then the soil borings indicated. Staff is working with the structural engineers and the contractor to determine a new plan. After a new plan is determined, we will update the project schedule. We understand the importance of opening 50^th Street to traffic as soon as it is safe to do so. Thanks for the understanding.

Pile driving operations have hit unexpected materials and have been suspended at this time. The project team is assessing how to build the required walls. Thanks

The contractor anticipates starting pile driving operations on Friday, July 19. It is scheduled for Friday, Saturday this week and Monday – Wednesday next week if things go well. This will be loud and disruptive work. Thanks

The 50^th Street and Grange Road Street Reconstruction Project is progressing nicely. Underground watermain, storm sewer and sanitary sewer improvements are wrapping up now. Street grading operations are scheduled to start the week of July 15. Also note that tentatively starting on July 18 – July 25, piling driving work will start. A large crane will be driving large steel plates into the slope behind existing traffic signal at 50^th and Grange to create space for the new sidewalks and new traffic signal. This work is anticipated to last 5 days. This work is loud and will occur during normal business hours. There will also be another large crane in front of City Hall to start a re-roofing and solar panel installation on the roof of City Hall. Thanks for the continued patience.

The contractor is tentatively scheduled to finish all watermain work this week. They do not anticipate working July 5 or July 6. We are coordinating access to the Sunnyslope Neighborhood during the 4th of July parade. During the week of July 8, the contractor will start storm sewer upgrades. Thanks.

Precipitation in Edina for May and early June has been well above normal. This has been a good thing related to the last two years of drought conditions but it is impacting street reconstruction projects. It has been too wet to complete any work on 50^th Street & Grange Road during the week of June 17. Watermain was scheduled for the week of June 17. That work has been pushed to the week of June 24. Its nearly impossible to dig trenches 7-8-ft deep to replace watermain or other underground pipes when its raining this much. We continue to hope for some dry weather to keep this project on schedule. Thanks for the patience.