New Kensington awards $349K contract for Fifth Avenue sidewalk repairs

Work to repair and replace broken and lifted sidewalks in downtown New Kensington will start in the second or third week of July, the city’s engineer said.

At a special meeting last Friday, June 30, city council voted 4-0 to award a contract of just over $349,000 for the Fifth Avenue project to Encompass Building Group through the state’s cooperative buying program.

Councilman Tim DiMaio was absent.

The city is paying for the work with money from its federal Community Development Block Grant funding, from which $350,000 was available, city engineer Tony Males said. That includes using about $100,000 remaining from its 2018 allotment that would be lost if not spent by Aug. 30.

The project will have two phases, Males said. The first will improve the sidewalks on Fifth Avenue at Ninth and 10th streets, including bringing the intersections into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The second phase will see improvements at the Eighth and 11th street intersections. The second phase also includes repairs to, or replacement of, 30 to 40 misaligned or heaved segments of sidewalk on Fifth Avenue between Seventh and 11th streets, Males said.

A dozen trees whose roots have lifted segments of the sidewalk will be removed, Males said.

The city is doing spot repairs because 60% to 70% of the sidewalks are in good condition, Males said.

Males said safety precautions will be taken and the work should not interfere with events, such as Fridays on Fifth, being held on the fourth Friday of each month through September this year.

The work is expected to be finished by November.