A major rehabilitation of a half-mile section of North Atkinson Avenue will take place beginning Monday (Oct. 25) and continue for the next six months as the street pavement is replaced and repairs and improvements are made to sidewalks, curbs and gutters, and ADA ramps that serve disabled citizens.
The overall project area is from East Second Street to Cherry Street, but work will be carried out in four phases, so only small sections of the project area will be affected at any one time. As work takes place in each phase, that section of North Atkinson will be completely closed. However, ccommodations will be in place for area residents to access their homes. During each phase, the corresponding section of North Atkinson will be closed to through traffic, which will be detoured to North Garden Avenue.
The first phase will go from Second Street to just south of Fourth Street. That phase is expected to be completed by Dec. 3. Once that phase is complete, other phases will progress the work north. The total project is planned for completion by the end of April 2022.
This $1.4 million project, contracted to J&H Services, will replace pavement, to a depth of 18 inches, on the project area of North Atkinson, which serves as a truck route, resulting in heavy vehicles impacting the street surface and the support underneath. The project will also make curb-and-gutter repairs and repair ADA ramps. It will also add sidewalk sections to fill in the gaps in the existing sidewalk system.
The project will be paid for in part with $1 million from the New Mexico Department of Transportation, which awarded the money to the Roswell project after a competitive process among numerous projects throughout the state. The city has budgeted $400,000 of city funds for the project, but plans to seek additional state funds that could lessen the amount of city funds that will be needed.