TORRINGTON – If all goes well, West C Street will be open by the time school starts in the fall, and it will be a smoother ride than ever.
Torrington Mayor Randy Adams announced during the July 7 Torrington City Council meeting that a waterline project on the street is complete, and STC Construction would be moving in to begin repaving the road from the highway intersection to 25th Avenue. The $450,000 project is funded by the Wyoming Department of Transportation and designed by the city.
“That gets them on the job ahead of August, and there’s very good chance it will be complete in early August so that street will be open, Adams said. “Please remember to use caution when you’re driving in the West C area. Hopefully, in a few weeks we’ll have that wrapped up.”
City Project Manager Mark Weiss said the project will be an improvement on the former state of the road.
“Once this is done, it’s going to be a huge improvement,” he said. “All of the corners will be ADA accessible and there will be a brand-new road surface. It will just make things so much better looking and a lot better driving.
“This takes care of the worst of West C.”
The project did receive some criticism on social media. The project caused the weekly Torrington Farmer’s Market to be moved to Main Street. The road closure raised some concerns from a pair of local business owners, and the online conversation steered in the direction of West C.
“Instead of bickering about the farmer’s market on Main Street, we should be bickering on why in the world has West C Street been shut down for over three months. I never see any actual work being done except for equipment being parked there every now and then,” Tim McFarland wrote.
The inconvenience was due to a waterline project, which has been completed. The waterline project presented WyDOT and the city with the opportunity to repave the street. Weiss said the waterline project was a different contract from the road project, and the city is doing its best to limit inconveniences while the project is ongoing.
“During the water project, we were trying to keep driveways open for as long as possible,” Weiss said. “Due to the extent of this project, driveway access for residents along a section of West C will not be available during this phase.”
