Project Update
Main Street construction has started again! On Tuesday, a majority of the new detour redirecting traffic
from Main Street west of First Avenue was setup and on Wednesday, removals on Phase 4 began. Ottertail
Aggregate has been working on the removals and started west of the intersection of First Avenue to leave
the existing surface in place as long as possible. Removals have been primarily focused on the center of the
roadway, with the existing bricks left in place to allow for pedestrian access as long as possible. Today, they
finished the remaining removals to the intersection of Fourth Avenue, completing work for the week.
On other parts of the project, Knife Lake completed concrete improvements on Seventh Avenue Southeast
and Seventh Avenue Northeast including curb and gutter, driveways and valley gutters.
Upcoming Activities
Next week, additional crews will be arriving in town to complete additional project components. On
Monday morning, Ottertail Aggregate will begin removing pavement in the intersection of First Avenue,
which will require that all traffic be re-routed to a detour on Second Avenue Northeast. The removals will
be necessary to allow R.L. Larson to begin underground utilities in the intersection, first with the removal of
storm sewer in the intersection, followed by the replacement of sanitary sewer mains working west out of
the intersection.
The plan is to complete as much of the underground utilities as possible in the area to allow traffic to
return to the intersection later in the week in advance of the busy weekend. Although late in the week the
intersection may be open, please realize that the surface will be sand and may be susceptible to potholes
and other construction related debris.
Mid-week the pavement reclaimers are scheduled to come to town to begin reclaiming the existing
pavement on the west side of town from Highway 10 to the intersection of County 34 and 51. The
reclamation will be completed in phases, with the first phase consisting of the grinding and placement of
approximately ten inches of the existing roadway. This will be the primary goal next week, with a portion
of the material being removed in future weeks. The reclamation will be completed with a moving traffic
control system where flaggers will be used to direct traffic when one lane is closed for traffic utilizing
County 80 west of town. Please follow the direction of flaggers to allow for a safe working environment.
If you have any questions, or want additional information on the project, the Perham Chamber of
Commerce has created a webpage dedicated to the project, which can be accessed at this link
(https://www.perham.com/2024msrp/). For more specific questions, feel free to contact the City Engineer,
Jade Berube, via email at jade.berube@apexenggroup.com, or City Manager, Jonathan Smith at
jsmith@cityofperham.com.
