CyRide security upgrade and sidewalk repairs: Highlights from Ames City Council
CyRide's security upgrade will cost less than anticipated.
From additional security to improved sidewalks and roadways, here is what you may have missed at the Jan. 23 Ames City Council meeting:
CyRide gets a safety upgrade
The Ames City Council awarded a contract to Commonwealth of the Midwest for just over $179,000 on Tuesday to update its security cameras and improve facility function. The cost estimate was almost $225,000, giving the project a contingency fund of over 10%.
The upgrades will equip all facility doors with position switches, install 21 surveillance cameras and align the security system software and servers with the City Hall security system.
The city also included a few alternatives within the $179,000 price, which includes additional cameras in the administration building, maintenance shop and the northwest bus storage area of the garage. CyRide will also be able to equip five doors with electronic access control equipment.
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Lincoln Way reconstruction
Road work along the CyRide route also received approval on Tuesday.
A contract for a little more than $2.5 million was awarded to Con-Struct to enhance a section of the bike path and roadway on Lincoln Way. With an additional engineering expense of just over $500,000, the total is expected to cap at about $3 million.
A portion of Lincoln Way from Beedle and Hickory Drive to Franklin Avenue will be reconstructed, with officials expecting little impact to the existing lane configuration. The shared-use path along the south side of Lincoln Way will also be reconstructed.
The project will be staged to allow for traffic during construction.
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City sidewalk standards under review after repair increase
The City of Ames also addressed an uptick in requests for sidewalk repair in the right of way.
In 2023, a total of 667 requests were submitted to the Ames Public Works Department, including 363 reports which have yet to be inspected.
Operations Manager of Ames Public Works Justin Clausen said reports have dramatically increased from the 90 requests submitted the year prior. He said sidewalk repairs had been less than 100 per year until 2023
"In April of this year, we started to see this dramatic increase," Clausen said. "We had up to 250 (repair requests) by the time we hit August, which is over two times our normal volume."
Clausen said an overwhelming majority of reports needed repair.
The other 363 requests were received this fall. Clausen said city staff paused inspections for the city to determine its sidewalk standards, which Ames Public Works presented to the council Tuesday.
The changes in standard include:
Vertical displacement increases from 1/4 to 1/2 inch
Horizontal displacement increases from 1/2 to 1 inch
Holes must be greater than 4 inches
There must be three or more cracks greater than 1 inch wide
Sidewalk inspections are currently on a "complaint only" basis.
The council did not take action on Tuesday to allow time for public input. The item will be revisited in March, when Ames Public Works estimates it can resume inspections and repairs.
"I think that at this point anything is better than what we've currently got," Ward 3 Rep. Gloria Betcher said. "Our sidewalks are deteriorating, and nothing's being done about them in many cases."
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Celia Brocker is a government, crime, political and education reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached at CBrocker@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Here's what you may have missed at the latest Ames City Council meeting
