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From YouTube: Welch Avenue Ribbon Cutting | May 27, 2021
Description
The Welch Avenue reconstruction project replaced original infrastructure that was more than a century old along with adding new street pavement and water quality improvements. Special features of the new Welch Avenue include bike lanes in both travel directions, permeable pavers, extended sidewalks, and tree trenches for improved stormwater management.
Visit www.cityofames.org/publicworks
A
My
name
is
john
hayla,
I'm
mayor
of
city
games.
I'm
pleased
to
welcome
all
of
you
to
this
exciting,
ribbon
cutting
ceremony
this
morning
and
before
I
get
started,
I
want
to
just
introduce
some
of
our
elected
officials
and
our
representatives
we
have
emily
from
I
think
representative
feinstein's
office
is
here.
Thank
you.
Also.
We
have
secretary
of
agriculture
mike
negg.
Is
that
right
all
right,
very
good
and
with
city
council
we
have
tim
garten
over
here
I
see
gloria
betcher.
A
A
The
goal
of
the
welch
avenue
reconstruction
has
been
to
create
a
street
that
promotes
safe,
multimodal
transportation,
encourages
people
to
gather,
allows
for
outdoor
seating
and
creates
a
fun
welcoming
environment
for
all
the
users.
I
hope
that
you
have
an
opportunity
to
walk
down
and
observe
what
has
been
done
and
we
think
it's
a
tremendous
improvement
and
with
that,
it's
my
pleasure
to
introduce
municipal
engineer,
tracy
peterson
who's,
going
to
share
more
information
about
the
project,
and
I
think
you
were
the
head
of
this
overall
project
as
well
too.
Is
that
right,
good
job?
B
Thank
you
mayor.
Well,
welcome
everyone.
Thank
you
for
joining
us.
The
project
was
initiated
to
replace
century-old
underground
infrastructure,
so
you
may
have
driven
on
welch
avenue
before,
but
what
is
underground
is
really
some
of
the
challenges
that
we
were
facing,
and
so,
with
the
great
redevelopment
we
had
an
opportunity
to
replace
the
water
system
and
the
sanitary
sewer
system,
which
was
that
deep
excavation.
B
What
gave
us
the
opportunity
to
do
that
is
removing
the
pavement
and
having
an
opportunity
to
do
the
water
quality
components,
as
you
have
seen
today,
as
well.
So
before
the
street
was
designed,
the
city
began
collecting
data
and
we
met
with
the
citizens
of
ames
the
businesses,
campustown
action,
association,
iowa
state
university
citizens.
We
took
a
really
unique
approach
in
looking
at
the
streetscape
components
and
were
doing
a
lot
of
voting,
so
we
did
this
dot
voting,
whether
it
was
at
an
eco,
fair
or
at
a
event.
B
On
campus,
with
the
welcome
fest,
we
took
that
opportunity
to
show
cross
sections
and
get
feedback
what
the
citizens
and
the
businesses
wanted
in
the
area.
So
working
with
the
students
groups,
they
actually
even
went
out
on
their
own
and
did
even
more
outreach,
and
so
it
was
a
great
collaboration
with
the
community.
B
So
city
council
ultimately
considered
that
data
and
decided
on
the
wide
sidewalks
the
bike
lanes
in
each
direction
and
then
implementing
these
water
quality
features.
So
the
street
slopes
to
the
north.
I
always
get
my
directions
turned
around
when
I'm
in
campus
town
on
welch,
but
as
you
can
see
it
drains
directly
to
the
north
towards
college
creek.
B
So
with
this
opportunity
came
the
water
quality
features
that
we
like
to
use
and
could
be
used
on
multiple
infrastructure
projects,
but
we
also
were
able
to
look
at
the
timing
of
this
project.
So
originally
it
was
going
to
be
constructed
in
2019,
but
we
then
ended
up
with
a
construction
in
2020
and
we're
able
to
work
with
some
of
the
businesses
that
were
already
going
to
be
closed
and
have
the
reconstruction
happen,
hopefully
to
minimize
those
impacts.
B
B
Really,
thank
you,
ames
electric.
If
you
can
see,
there's
new
light,
poles,
street
lights,
whk
and
company
has
joined
us
here
today
as
well.
I
want
to
thank
angie
and
derek
and
their
team
for
the
design,
as
well
as
rdg
eric
iverson
had
worked
hard
on
the
streetscape
components
as
well,
and
then
the
contractors
you
know
it
takes
the
team
to
build
it
and
so
construct.
On-Track
construction,
distinctive
landscapes,
carruth
construction
and
iowa
plane
signing.
B
C
You
thanks
tracy
mayor.
Thank
you
very
much,
ames
fire
thanks
for
hosting
us
again
today.
You
know
there
is
no
better
way
to
see
what
a
project
can
look
like
or
what
the
benefit
is
than
to
do.
One
of
these
in
the
rain-
and
you
know
that's
a
good
thing,
but
well
we're
thrilled
to
be
here
and
and
thankful
to
be
a
part
of
this
celebration.
I
love
this
project
was
able
to
be
here
when
we
kicked
off
and
announced
it,
and
I
am
so
thrilled
with
what
the
result
is.
C
You
know
I
remember
one
of
the
distinct
one
of
the
things
about
this
project
that
really
appealed
to
me
was
yes,
we've
got
the
urban
conservation
practices
that
we're
interested
in
as
the
department
as
part
of
our
efforts
to
to
advance
the
nutrient
reduction
strategy,
but
what
the
city
of
ames
gets
and
what?
What
folks
in
the
town
and
what
the
businesses
get
is
a
beautiful
streetscape.
It
really
is
pretty
from
storefront
to
storefront
and
that
aging
infrastructure.
C
That
was
underneath
the
road
needed
to
be
addressed,
and
so
you
can
put
all
that
together
and
end
up
with
a
project.
That
really
is
something
to
be
proud
of,
and
it
was
earth
day.
I
remember
we
were
reminded
of
back
in
2019
that
we
were
here
to
kick
off
this
campustown
project.
I
want
to
acknowledge
too
paul
miller,
paul
wave
your
hand
back
here.
Paul
leads
our
urban
conservation
group
at
the
iowa
department
of
ag
and
paul
and
his
team
work
with
communities
all
across
the
state
to
develop
these
kinds
of
projects.
C
In
fact,
we
just
as
part
of
a
larger
we
just
announced
in
the
last
couple
of
weeks,
102
million
dollars
worth
of
water
quality
projects
that
will
get
that
will
get
done
in
the
near
future
in
the
state
of
iowa.
Part
of
that
was
12.
New
urban
conservation
projects
funded
around
a
million
dollars
from
this
department
of
ag
matched
with
local
dollars.
Just
like
this,
one
was,
and
that's
that's
exciting-
to
see
that
kind
of
progress
all
across
the
state.
C
It's
a
great
demonstration
effort
and
thanks
for
for
taking
that
on
and
for
the
investment
on
the
part
of
the
community,
so
for
all
of
that
for
the
benefit
of
this
community
and
everybody
who
walks
down
this
street
for
everybody
who
lives
downstream
and
for
the
the
folks
that
can
learn
from
this
effort.
This
is
a
great
project
worth
the
investment,
and
I
want
to
thank
you
all
for
being
here
today
to
help
break.
C
B
B
Well,
I
want
to
talk
just
briefly.
You
see
the
tree
trenches
and
you
see
the
boxes.
So
what's
underneath
is
a
large
section
of
soil
cells
so
that
soil
will
provide
more
space
for
the
trees
to
grow
and
for
the
water
quality
to
be
treated
as
it
comes
in
through
the
not
only
the
permeable
pavers,
but
through
the
intake
system,
and
so
into
that
it
gets
filtered
out
in
the
plants
that
were
just
planted.
B
So
one
other
thing
that
you
might
not
know
is
that
the
downside
of
the
tree
trenches
are
a
little
wider
and
they're
a
little
taller,
and
that
was
intentional
so
that
they
are
benches.
So,
as
you
come
out
into
campustown,
please
go
grab
some
food
or
beverage
from
one
of
the
nice
restaurants
and
sit
on
the
bench,
and
that
is
the
tree
trench.
So
we
also
have
ordered
and
will
be
installed
in
early
june,
trash
receptacles
benches
and
bike
racks.
So
just
to
let
you
know,
we
have
not
forgot
those
they
are
on
their
way.
B
Just
had
some
lead
time
with
the
the
ordering.
So
with
that,
I
would
like
to
welcome
everybody
to
come
up,
and
I
would
love
it
if
jesus
and
havis
would
be
willing
to
be
part
of
this
ribbon,
cutting
as
well
you're
such
an
integral
part
and
liz
and
jake.
Please
everybody
come
up
and
we
will
have
the
ribbon
cutting.