EAGLES NEST TWP— With a little creativity, St. Louis County public works officials were able to address the unusual issue that has plagued users of Trygg Road here for the past year— and did so sooner and for less money than expected.
Trygg Road had become infamous in the past year, ever since an upgrade of the gravel road last year left behind sharp shards of rock that had become a frequent cause of flat tires for users of the road.
The road primarily serves residents and seasonal cabin owners in the township, and many had reported several flat tires in the past year. Each time, a sharp shard of rock proved to be the cause.
County officials had tried various methods to address the problem before finally opting to remove and replace the top 12 inches of the road surface with new aggregate from a different gravel pit. Earlier this month, Brian Boder, deputy public works director, had indicated the bidding on the project would likely be done by mid-summer with the work expected in the fall.
But Jim Foldesi, county public works director, said they opted to commission the work as a change order to the county’s existing gravel crushing contract with TNT Construction, which had set up operations at a county gravel pit on Hwy. 1, about three miles west of the Y Store.
“We had asked them for 40,000 tons of gravel and we planned to use roughly 10,000 tons out on Trygg Road,” said Foldesi. “We had them crush up more than we needed since we were already paying for mobilization.”
It turns out the company had a gap in their construction season, so when county officials suggested they take on the Trygg Road project, they came back with an attractive price— $380,000, which was considerably less than Foldesi had anticipated. “So, we were able to get it done at a very reasonable cost and were able to get it done much sooner,” he added.
In fact, the work began about ten days ago and was largely wrapped up this week.
That left residents of the road, who had been complaining for months about the situation, relieved. “I’m just happy to have it done,” said resident Barb Soderberg. “Maybe some of our friends and relatives will come back down the road again to visit us.”
Foldesi agreed. “We’re very happy that we could accelerate the project and take care of the issue,” he said.