DULUTH — A stretch of Superior Street through the heart of downtown Duluth will reopen Nov. 15, though it will need six more weeks of construction work next year.
Parts of the road and sidewalks will be covered in temporary asphalt after "rain, cold temperatures and unexpected findings below the surface" delayed the extensive street and pipe replacement, according to project manager Duncan Schwensohn.
"The contractor had crews working six days a week throughout the entire project to ensure as much work as possible could be done," he said in a news release Thursday.
Among the findings causing the delay were old fuel tanks, a 20-foot-by-20-foot crane pad and shallow bedrock.
The asphalt, between Third and Fourth Avenues East, will be removed next spring and a permanent concrete surface will be poured.
Downtown travel was already destined to be difficult next year, as the final phase of the three-year, $31.5 million Superior Street reconstruction project will overlap with work on the adjacent Lake Avenue bridge over Interstate 35.
The public can learn more about next year's work from 9-10:30 a.m. on Nov. 19 at the Holiday Inn downtown.
Brooks Johnson • 218-491-6496
