Street opens, another closes for floodplain project

RANDOLPH – Randolph’s Main Street opened to traffic Friday after being closed for more than a year.

A section of the street was closed in spring 2022 as part of the Middle Logan Creek Floodplain Mitigation project. State inspectors cleared the bridge for travel and the new street to open last week as the second and final stage of the $17-million project nears completion.

The new Main Street has a noticeable shift, or curve, to the east due to modifications made to the sewer line there, said City Administrator Ben Benton.

The new sewer siphon system was installed where the old road deck was located for cost efficiency and safety. Public works crews will need ample room for equipment for the frequent maintenance of the sewer line, he said.

“We didn’t want to be blocking the new road,” he said. “We want traffic flowing, that’s why it’s over as far as it is.”

But just as one street opens, another one closes – Douglas Street.

Douglas Street will be closed to through traffic indefinitely, Benton said, with the bridge being demolished later this month.

A number of factors, including the increasing costs of materials, led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to drop the Douglas Street bridge reconstruction from the project’s second phase so work could move forward.

At a public hearing in spring 2022, about 50 residents were mixed on whether or not to fund Douglas Street bridge work at that time.

For now, Douglas Street comes to a stop with Road Closed signage at the edge of the channel.

“We’ll look at it in a few years and see if the general public has an appetite to shoulder that project through additional taxes,” Benton said. “We’ll look at grants, but it’s very likely it would be funded through a combination of grants and levy.”

Along with tearing down the Douglas Street bridge, the contractor, Iron Mike Construction, will finish out the project with more dirt work, erosion control, grading and seeding.

A final sign-off by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Randolph will likely happen in spring 2024.

At that time, the Corps will have an official dedication ceremony, Benton said.

Then the city will work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to start the re-mapping process and officially remove the floodplain distinction from Randolph.

Benton said when he started as city administrator in 2019, he inherited the floodplain project that had been in the works for decades.

“Now, four years later, Phase I is done. Phase II is almost done with construction. To see the light at the end of the tunnel on this project is pretty impressive – to have so much completed in such a short amount of time,” he said. “These last four years could not have been as successful as it was without the hard work and time investment from previous (city) councils, mayors, administrators and residents.”

Having a floodplain in your backyard hinders growth with the majority of Randolph homeowners and business owners required to carry flood insurance. Now, it’s time for Randolph to capitalize on how far they’ve come, Benton said.

He will be asking the city council to fund the position of economic development coordinator – a position vacant since 2020 – to help fuel growth.

“It’s a lot to complete something of this magnitude that will ultimately positively impact our community for generations to come,” Benton said.