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By Rebecca Wolfson

City Writer

The $4.4 million contract to reconstruct West Johnson Street from Campus Drive to State Street is expected to be complete this Friday after several obstacles have delayed the project’s completion.

Despite these obstacles, Mike Zeisler, project manager for TN and Associates, the managing consultant contractor for the project, said he is happy about how the project went and would not make any changes.

“I think it went very well,” Zeisler said.

Zeisler said numerous factors account for why the project was prolonged.

“Communication lines and telephone lines had to be restored and moved in a place where they could be used. Sanitary was upgraded. Traffic signals were redone,” Zeisler said.

Bryan Manning, assistant construction engineer for the city, said the delay was also due to additional storm pipes and sidewalk work.

“The schedule was pretty aggressive for the work to be completed. There has been additional work added to the contract and numerous obstacles,” Manning said.

Depending on weather conditions, the workers may not be able to accomplish some of the final touches of the project such as painting lines on the road and putting up street lines and power signals by Friday, according to Manning. However, Manning said he is fairly confident the project will be done by Nov. 21.

“It looks very promising that it will be done Friday,” Manning said.

Zeisler said the project’s time frame was fairly typical of city construction work.

“Anytime you are in an urban area, it will take a long time,” Zeisler said.

He said Madison residents will forget the hassles involved with the construction once they see the final results.

“Everyone will like it once it’s done. They will be glad they put up with it for the summer,” Zeisler said.

Although the width of the road has not been altered, Manning said there will be noticeable improvements from the project. In addition to a smooth ride for vehicles, pedestrians can expect to see some enhancements.

“There will be new traffic signals between Park Street and Lake Street along with colored concrete to differentiate between the pedestrian area and the road,” Manning said.

However, some people felt the construction project took longer than it needed to.

“This took way too long and I’m embarrassed for the city,” said Mike Verveer, Madison City Council President.

Verveer said he was aware of the underground utilities discovered during the construction project, but maintained that the contractor still took longer than necessary.

“Parisi (the contractor) is notoriously slow. There are other contractors in town that would work around the clock; Parisi is not one of them,” Verveer said.

Nearby businesses have been drastically affected by the construction work.

“I feel mightily for the businesses that have suffered,” Verveer said.

Sal Elmazi, owner of Casa Bianca, said business has dropped 35 to 40 percent since the Johnson Street construction and said he is unsure if it will pick up again, even after the construction is done.

“I absolutely feel that it is the city’s fault,” Elmazi said.

However, Verveer said he is confident that businesses will bounce back after the construction is finished. Other businesses affected by the construction include Angelic Brewery, Howard Johnson Hotel, the Nitty Gritty, and others in the area.

Next year parts of State Street and East Washington Avenue will undergo major construction projects, similar to the Johnson Street project. Verveer said he is determined to make sure these future projects are constructed more expeditiously.

“We cannot tolerate these streets being torn up as long,” Verveer said. “I and other city officials are taking to heart the mistakes made on Johnson Street and working to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”