While many have had their attention on the upcoming paving of Johnson Avenue being done by the West Virginia Division of Highways, the City of Bridgeport will also soon have its own paving taking place on streets under its jurisdiction.

 

Recently, the city advertised to receive sealed bids for removal and resurfacing of a number of city streets. And that means that the smell of hot asphalt will soon be in the air.

 

“The dollars to do the work is included in the approved fiscal year budget,” said Bridgeport Mayor Andy Lang. “We keep a standard list of streets to be paved on a regular basis and it is occasionally modified if conditions necessitate a road being addressed sooner than what is on the list.”

 

Just how much the roads on this year’s list will cost the city’s taxpayers is unknown. However, bids from contractors are due to the office of City Engineer Beth Fox on June 7 at 10 a.m. where the bids will be opened and read aloud.

 

Prior to that, a pre-bid meeting will be held May 30 at 10 a.m. at the Bridgeport Municipal Complex on Main Street. The meeting, according to the second and final legal advertisement, is not mandatory.

 

“This is important to keeping the town in good shape, particularly the older parts of town that we need to make sure is keeping up with infrastructure on a regular basis,” said Lang. “What’s good about how we’re doing the paving is that we do this regularly as opposed to waiting for a road to get so bad that it has to be done.”

 

Pending approval of a recommended bid and based on how much the low bid is, the city is tentatively looking at paving to all or parts of more than 30 roadways in Bridgeport.

 

According to information from the city, the streets currently being looked at to be fully paved are Arbor Court, Arrowood Drive, Birch Street, Blakes Place, Circle Drive, Golden Stree, Jones Avenue, Lakeview Drive, Poplar Street, Rainbow Road, Sherwood Circle, Stone Street,  Wescam Court, Wiseman Street, and  Worthington Place.

 

The list of partial street paving include Broadway Avenue (from the intersection of Park Street to Olive Street); Carriage Lane (from the intersection of Johnson Avenue up to 26 Carriage Lane and from the intersection of Johnson Avenue up just slightly past 109 Carriage Lane); East North Street from the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue to Lawman Avenue); Easy Street (from the intersection of Sunset Drive to just past the intersection of Rainbow Road and Easy Street); Foley Street (from the intersection of South Virginia Avenue to Orchard Avenue); Front Street (from the intersection of Lawman Ave to Willis Avenue); Frum Road (from the intersection of East North Street up to just past 104 Frum Road; Jefferson Street (from the intersection of South Virginia Avenue up to the intersection of Orchard Avenue); Lawman Avenue (just before 906 Lawman Avenue to Del Dew Drive); Orchard Avenue (from the intersection of Newton Avenue to Foley Street and from the Intersection of Jefferson Street to Blackwell Street); Oxford Court (from the intersection of Windsor Drive to just past 104 Oxford Court); Pearcy Avenue (from the intersection of Stout Street to 408 Pearcy Avenue); Ridgeway Drive (just before 141 Ridgeway Drive up to the midpoint of 174 Ridgeway Drive); Sherwood Road (from 153 Sherwood Road to Ridgeway Intersection); Stout Street (from the intersection of West Olive Street to Intersection of Pearcy Avenue); and Westwood Avenue (intersection at Crestview to the intersection of Millbrook Road).

 

Again, the list is tentative. It also pending until Bridgeport City Council would approve it at an upcoming meeting of the city’s governing body.

 

“These are important projects because it addresses a need and it also is one where people can see where there tax dollars are going,” said Lang. “Just like people will see where tax dollars are going with the new Indoor Rec Complex, they can see it with the paving.”

 

The legal ad calls for the removal of 31,000 square yards of asphalt. It also calls for resurfacing of 4,700 ton of asphalt streets in the city.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows paving work from recent years in the city, while Bridgeport Mayor Andy Lang is shown below.