City Council President Regina Brackman, D-Ward 3, asked during Monday’s council work session if there would be a way for the city to contact Second Street business owners about what to expect with the state DOT’s roadwork and project in that area. P-J photo by Sara Holthouse

While the state Department of Transportation has begun their work on Second Street, a question was brought up about how to contact business owners on the street and let them know about what the current plans are during Monday’s City Council meeting.

Councilman Daniel Gonzalez, D-At Large and chair of the Public Works Committee, mentioned the work on Second Street at the full work session, saying that the project is expected to take all summer long and that CatCo is going to be “all over” and up and down the street. Handicap ramps, lighting, crosswalk and overall road improvements are expected to be part of the project.

“It’s going to be a long summer, so motorists need to take their time when going through those construction zones and be aware of their surroundings while they’re working,” Gonzalez said. “The plan is to hopefully have the majority or totality of it done by the end of this summer, with the possibility of working into early next year at the very latest.”

City Council President Regina Brackman, D-Ward 3, asked if there was a way the city could communicate with business owners on Second Street what the plan is, saying that they would like to know what is going on and how that will be affecting their business. Mark Roetzer, city public works director, said the best way would be to contact the DOT if they had specific questions to be directed in the right direction. Brackman asked if there was anything to be done as a city to let business owners know about the roadwork on their end.

“Is there anything as a city that we can say ‘hey, there’s going to be roadwork done on your street, this is the expected duration’, or what the work is going to be, not necessarily that they need to talk to somebody?” Brackman said. “They just want to know what’s going on.”

Both Mayor Kim Ecklund and Roetzer noted that they do not know the exact timeline and do not have control over that aspect, but do know what the work is and where they will be working so they could tell business owners that. Brackman said she thought business owners were having flashbacks to when work began on Second Street last time and how that interfered with their business operations. Council also noted that work has begun by the corner of Second Street and Winsor Street.