Residents who have been driving around town lately may have noticed a smoother ride, particularly along some of the city's secondary streets.
And a major city street improvement project that has been ongoing for much of the year wrapped yesterday.
Fifth Street between North West and North College avenues opened back up to traffic late Wednesday afternoon.
The project began in January at the intersection of College and Fifth and since then, crews have added a northbound turn lane from College onto Fifth; widened the section of Fifth; and installed new curbs, gutters, sidewalks and street lights.
Crews worked their way east toward North West Avenue, where a retaining wall on the northwest side of the intersection was removed and pushed farther back to provide more space for vehicles to turn at the intersection, particularly emergency vehicles on the way to and from Medical Center of South Arkansas.
The medical center's rear entrances and ER are off Fifth Street, which runs just north of the hospital.
In July, the El Dorado City Council approved a change-order to the job, adding $60,000 to the $850,000 budget.
Robert Edmonds, director of public works, said then that an issue had cropped up that temporarily suspended work on the project.
As crews neared the intersection of North West and Fifth, they uncovered that a concrete street underneath the asphalt -- an issue that would cause problems after the road work was completed unless the concrete was removed, Edmonds explained.
Work resumed and is now complete.
Edmonds said crews are taking care of a few "punch list of small things to dress up and fix" over the next few days.
The city's 2021 street repaving program is also nearing completion.
Street Superintendent James Lewis reported Wednesday there are approximately six streets left to mill and overlay on this year's list.
He told the El Dorado Water and Public Works Board -- which is made up of El Dorado City Council members -- that the project is "looking good," adding that the Street Department is waiting on contractor Smackover Paving to get to segments of Bradford, Sixth, Watson, Ford and Yocum streets.
Last month, Lewis said Eighth Street between Emmett and Bradford; North Murphy from West Main to Mount Holly Road; and Maple Hill were next up to be overlaid.
On Wednesday, he said all of the work has been done, save the Eighth Street job.
Edmonds said that once crews milled the street, they discovered a wastewater main failure, adding that the El Dorado Water Utilities was called in on the project.
He said bids have been let to pipe-burst the wastewater mainline and reconnect 52 service lines along that section of West Eighth.
John Peppers, manager of the EWU, said bids will be opened at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 27.
"That's the types of things you run into. Typically, you can cut the asphalt off of it and in a day or two, you can relay it," Edmonds said, adding that with the wastewater line repairs, "it's going to take quite some time" to repave the street.
Additionally, Lewis previously explained that because of COVID-19-related delays in the chain for building materials and other supplies, Smackover Paving has had to alternate between other jobs and tending to city streets.
The contractor is expected to return to El Dorado next week.
The remaining areas include Bradford between Fifth and Sixth; Sixth between Bradford and Monroe; Moore between Fifth and Sixth; Watson between 19th and Lockhart; Ford between Lockhart and Moon; and Yocum between Main and Mount Holly.
Fifth Street between College and Columbia is also included in the current round of street overlays. The work has already been completed as part of the overall expansion and improvement project, said Lewis.
Council Member Willie McGhee said he has heard lots of feedback from local residents who have expressed appreciation for the street work, particularly for side and feeder streets.
"Also, a lot of people are calling to make sure their road is on the list and I just told them to be patient. Most of these roads y'all are doing are secondary roads that's been needing to be done for years," said McGhee.
Edmonds said the list of city streets to be repaired each year is fluid and is compiled by council members, city employees and residents who call them in to the Department of Public Works.
Lewis said he has already submitted the list for the next batch of street repairs that could begin this year or in early 2022, weather permitting.
Edmonds said annual street repairs tend to last until October each year.
For more information, call the Department of Public Works at 870-863-4344.
In 2020, the city council and El Dorado Works Board approved the $5 million to help bolster the existing $1.3 million Street Department budget and to cover more streets as part of the yearly street overlay program.
The EWB administers the city's one-cent, sales tax that is designated for economic development, municipal infrastructure and quality-of-life projects.
Some of the work that was scheduled in 2020 was not done due to a slowdown in activity because of COVID-19, which affected labor and materials for contractors.
The allotment was divided in half, with $2.5 million for 2020 and the other half this year.
Each ward was granted $1.5 million to spread among the two years.
Ward 4 is using much of its cut for the Fifth Street project.
Matt Hutcheson contributed reporting.
