Livingston South Church Street Project Delayed By Manholes

Livingston’s South Church Street Project has been delayed for a second time in 2024 to prepare precast manholes.

Livingston Mayor Curtis Hayes said the company the city is working with believes they can have the manholes ready in three to four weeks. The precast holes are designed to be assembled above ground and lowered into a dug-out space in the ground.

“To be able to put those precast in, the first step is going to be drainage,” Hayes said. “And then, right after, simultaneously perhaps, right beside that, UCEMC will come down and bury all of their line as well, and then we’ll backfill Twin Lakes.”

The project was delayed in 2023 due to supply chain issues, and again in January due to weather. Hayes said there is also concern about the accuracy of utility lines in the original plan for the project. Hayes said Barge Design Solutions has had to go back to the drawing board after learning that some of the utility lines are not as exact as they thought.

“I know that there’s some business owners that have already made some adjustments to their property,” Hayes said. “We’ve got some raw material sitting down there as well, so we are ready to go as soon as we can get our precast in.”

Hayes said he is anxious to get the project started and once construction does finally start, he hopes it can move without further interruption.

“The goal is not for any business to be interrupted due to any utilities, and we don’t see that,” Hayes said. “There will be possibly some one-lane closures and one open. I think that everybody understands that.”

The Aldermen also approved the low bid from Rogers Group of some $132,000 for the paving portion of the project, which will happen last.

Aldermen took advice from local engineers and electricians for lamp posts on South Church Street as well. The city had designs for the posts, but none were designed for the left side of the road, generating worry that it would leave the road too dark. They looked at 11 lamp posts and chose a bid from City Electric for $3,070 apiece. Hayes said the lamp posts would be very similar to the ones in Central Park.

The Aldermen also approved the purchase of a hydraulic hammer for the South Church Street project. Hayes said the machine would be attached to a Caterpillar backhoe and used to dig up the sidewalk. The hammer cost the city some $11,600.

The board also approved a $13,000 software update for the Livingston Police Department. Police Chief Ray Smith said the existing software was beginning to struggle, and the department had been notified that it was time to update.