Ocean City Announces Offseason Construction Projects

OCEAN CITY -- It’s going to be a busy offseason of construction activity in Ocean City.

The Town of Ocean City’s Public Works Department will be starting several projects beginning this month that involve traffic lane closures or detours. The projects, which are scheduled to be completed between December 2012 and May 2013, range from water main installation to road improvements.

The most high-profile currently underway is the major restoration of the Boardwalk, but some other work about to be undertaken includes the following:

St. Louis Ave. Repaving: On Oct. 15, Public Works closed St. Louis Ave. from Talbot to 1st streets in order to repave the road. This section, which goes under the Route 50 Bridge, closed at 6 a.m. on Oct. 15, and is set to re-open on Friday, Oct. 19; however, weather or high tides could delay the re-opening.

45th to 51st Street 24” Raw Water Main: On Oct. 15, a contractor working for the town began installation of a new 24-inch raw water main, in the center lane of northbound Coastal Highway beginning at 45th Street and ending between 51st Street and 52nd Street at the site of a new production well, also being installed this fall.

Multiple lane closures during the work week and into the weekend are expected. The same contractor will also be performing road repairs on the asphalt, placed this spring, in the southbound fast lane of Coastal Highway from 49th Street to 26th. This work should not involve major long term lane closures.

Completion date for this project is Dec. 15.

St. Louis Ave. Water, Sewer, and Roadway Improvements 10th to 17th Street – Phase I: On Oct, 22, a contractor working for the town will begin the rebuilding of St. Louis Avenue from 10th to 17th streets, which is the Phase 1 area of a multiyear project.

Areas of St. Louis Ave. will be closed during the week to allow this work to be performed, including no parking restrictions. Detours will be prevalent, with traffic being diverted to signalized intersections on Philadelphia Avenue. All cross streets in the project area will remain open after hours and on weekends.

Completion date for this project is May 1, 2013.

City Wide Potable Valve Exercising: On Oct. 15, Utility Services Company will begin water valve exercising, but will not require major or long term temporary traffic control measures. While all 1,500 valves will be operated, noticeable water shutoffs should not be an issue. A fire hydrant flushing will also take place, in conjunction with the valve exercise operation. After valves are exercised, the hydrants will be flushed in the same area to remove any debris introduced by the valve testing. Due to the exercise project, there will not be a night time, major fire hydrant flushing operation this fall as usual, but will resume this coming March 2013.

Completion date for this project is May 14, 2013.

Old Landing Road Wastewater Pumping Station Improvements: Reconstruction of the Old Landing wastewater pumping station project will begin the later part of October 2012. The project will require no parking areas to facilitate the construction and sewer by-pass operation, but should not affect normal traffic.

Completion date for this project is May 1, 2013.