The City of Pierre has plans to rebuild or resurface about 50 blocks of city street during the 2022 construction season.
The plan includes resurfacing six blocks of Capitol Ave. between Harrison and Buchanan Avenues, as well as all of Northstar Ave. between Elizabeth St. and Airport Road.
On Feb. 8, the Pierre City Commission bid the contract for the asphalt portion of the work with hopes there will be the labor force and the supplies available to get the projects completed.
Pierre Mayor Steve Harding says that it’s an ambitious workload given the current labor market and supply chain challenges.
“There isn’t an abundance of workforce or materials right now,” said Mayor Harding. “The available federal infrastructure dollars are driving up demand on limited resources.”
City Staff Engineer Nick Waters says that street construction has a lot of moving parts and each component has to be functioning for success.
“To make things work as they should, we need people and supplies to do concrete work, underground utility work, plus the asphalt,” said Waters. “We’re hearing many of those areas will be challenging for the next couple of years.”
Waters did go on to say that the Highland Ave. and Airport Road projects are already under contract and should be completed this year. Work on both projects started last construction season, and both were put on hold for the winter.
The City’s 2022 construction map can be viewed here or at cityofpierre.org