Solving Multiple Problems With

by Steve Meyer and Stephen Stumpf

Solving Multiple Problems With One Project

Des Peres, Missouri

The Fairoyal Drive project was completed under budget and ahead of schedule.

In the summer of 2021, the city of Des Peres undertook its largest street replacement project in decades. Fairoyal Drive is a mile-long residential neighborhood street serving more than 300 homes. Previous residential street projects replaced small segments to minimize impact on residents. However, small projects delayed needed replacements, disturbed the neighborhood repeatedly and increased costs. The public works department resolved to start replacing longer segments of street. In 2018, the City replaced a 1,000-foot-long section of Fairoyal Drive and proved that larger projects could be completed more economically and with minimized impact on residents. Following the successful project, the City budgeted to replace the remaining 2,100-foot-long section of the street in 2020. Besides replacing the pavement, this project would address two more problems: speeding and persistent wet sidewalks and gutters. Pavement

In order to build a road that would last, the depth of the pavement was increased from 5 inches on clay to 8 inches on a 4 inch crushed stone base. Steel dowels and tie bars were used at joints to transfer load and hold slabs together. This multigenerational asset is more environmentally friendly and sustainable simply because it will last so long. Mix designs included Type C Flyash, that reduced the amount of cement

One of three neckdowns used to discourage speeding. This neckdown also provides a safe crosswalk.

needed while using a byproduct that otherwise would have gone to a landfill.

Speeding

Speeding and pedestrian safety has been a concern of residents along Fairoyal Drive. The street is long, wide, and on a steep slope at times, 38 feet wide curb-to-curb, whereas most residential streets in Des Peres are only 26 feet wide. This extra width, along with straightaways, clear sightlines, and steep slopes encourages speeding. Traffic data collected by the City identified Fairoyal as having the worst speeding among all residential streets (20 mph). After studying various types of traffic calming, the director of public works determined that neckdowns would be the most appropriate method.

A neckdown reduces the street width, causing drivers to slow. The previously constructed island was replaced with a neckdown, which also created a shorter crosswalk distance for pedestrians. This crossing had been on a significant slope, but to meet ADA recommendations, the crosswalk was flattened at the stop sign. The grade change adds additional encouragement to drivers to come to a stop. The other two neckdowns were installed at the ends of the project and included colored concrete behind the rolled curbs. The colored concrete within the neckdowns preserves on-street parking, a concern of the residents, while providing a strong visual cue.

Drainage

Many homes on the north side of Fairoyal Drive are set in a terrace cut into a steep hillside that intersects the natural groundwater table. The near surface groundwater causes persistent wet yards and wet basements. The use of sump pumps is widespread. The water involved makes its way through backyards and side yards to the sidewalk and street gutter. Persistent wet sidewalks and gutters cause the growth of algae in the summer and dangerous ice slicks in the winter, causing the residents to voice safety concerns. Previously, French drains had been installed but they provided only partial relief. Therefore, this street improvement project needed to include a better solution.

The City hired HR Green, Inc., a local civil engineering firm, to design a solution. During 2019, HR Green engineers met with residents, held public meetings, and evaluated alternatives to eliminate surface groundwater from sidewalks and gutters while also minimizing City work on private property.

The designed solution was a publicprivate partnership to install a new public storm sewer under the street and yard drains at the property line of each parcel. The yard drains provided location to drain sump pumps and a perforated pipe to collect ground water. The project bid documents included pay items for the City’s contractor to make the sump pump connection, but most residents chose to hire their own plumber.

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This neckdown included colored concrete behind the rolled curbs to preserve on-street parking while providing a strong visual cue.

Overcoming Challenges

Pandemic Schedule

By March of 2020, the project had been designed and public feedback incorporated. Although ready to bid, the project was delayed a year due to the potential impact of COVID-19 on City revenues. The project was advertised for bids early in 2021, and the contractor was given five months for completion, with work starting immediately after Memorial Day. The first phase of the project consisted of installing the new storm sewer and drains to accommodate the groundwater seepage. The stormwater subcontractor completed work in three weeks, but a labor shortage delayed street work for more than a month. This delay created concern that the work may

not be completed within the schedule. However, with the help of their concrete supplier, E. Meier Contracting used a modified early-strength concrete to accelerate the paving schedule and open the street to traffic on time.

Safety During Construction

To minimize traffic hazards for workers and motorists, the City installed temporary traffic zone signage, increased speeding fines ($250), and added police patrols. The City used electronic message boards at both ends of the project. Typical messages included “ROAD WORK AHEAD ... DRIVE SLOW” and “CONCRETE POUR AHEAD ... EXPECT DELAYS.”

Unique Phasing

The City required a unique phasing plan for the work. Closing the street and replacing the pavement from one end to the other would have been more efficient, but would have created significant disruption and hardship for the residents. Therefore, the paving was split into 16 phases. Each phase typically included four homes and sequential phases were intentionally not adjacent to one another. This phasing plan allowed nearby on-street parking for residents whose driveways were temporarily unusable.

Public Involvement

The first project open house occurred in August 2019. It focused on the groundwater problems. Invitations were mailed to that subset of residents. A second open house occurred February 2020, and invitations were sent to all residents adjacent to the project. The second meeting focused on reducing the speeding and project phasing. Feedback was obtained and incorporated into the final design.

Communication

A presentation on the project and its phasing was delivered to the Board of Aldermen on January 2021, before bidding. The project was also featured in the City’s April, May and June newsletters. Notification letters were sent to residents in May 2021 advising that the project was to start. When the project was delayed by material and labor shortages, the City sent a followup notice in July 2021 that work was restarting.

Throughout construction, the City maintained a project website that was updated several times each week. The website indicated construction progress: which phases had been reopened, which were currently under construction, and which were curing. Residents knew that while there may be delays based upon weather, breakdowns, or manpower shortages, the project would proceed from Phase A through Phase P. They could watch the progress of the project as it approached their home. Throughout the project, we were overwhelmed with the positive feedback from residents. While we are all used to hearing from unhappy residents, the positive comments outweighed the negative by a 5-1 ratio. Residents appreciated the execution of the plan as it had been communicated to them.

The Fairoyal Drive Reconstruction Project was ultimately completed under budget and ahead of schedule, providing a long-lasting benefit to the community. Through creative problem-solving by the City, the residents, the engineering consultant and the contractor, multiple long-standing problems were addressed through one project. The Fairoyal Drive project was recently recognized by the MO/KS Chapter of the American Concrete Pavement Association as the top municipal street project (<30,000 SY) in the state of Missouri for 2021.

Steve Meyer, PE, has served as director of public works and city engineer for the city of Des Peres since 2014. He can be reached at smeyer@desperesmo.org.

Stephen Stumpf, PE, CFM is a water resources engineer for HR Green, Inc. He has more than seven years of experience working with communities and utilities on stormwater drainage. He can be reached at sstumpf@ hrgreen.com.

The areas of work for paving was split into 16 phases, and intentionally not adjacent to one another, in order to provide nearby parking areas for residents when their driveways were not accessible.