Joint effort to repave Marguerite Avenue

The pitted, potholed and extremely rough northern end of Marguerite Avenue is going to be fixed.

Corning and Tehama County public works departments will be working together to reconstruct a 1,600-foot segment of the street adjacent to the Corning Municipal Airport.

"In a nutshell," said John Brewer, director of public works for Corning, "the city will excavate, grade and prepare the roadbed, and the county will apply the chip-seal surface and stripe the street."

The section of road to be repaved starts at Neva Avenue to the north, and ends near Victorian Park Drive to the south.

In a report, Brewer explained the need for the joint effort since Marguerite straddles the boundary between the city and the county.

He said the roadway has little if any substructure and has a deteriorating chip-sealed surface.

The condition of the road is so poor, Brewer said, it won't take much to remove what surface there is, and that the project will also improve the road's drainage.

The City Council voted unanimously on Feb. 14 to adopt a resolution authorizing the city to work with the county to conduct the project.

Tehama County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution on Dec. 9, authorizing its part in the project.

The Corning Public Works Department plans to use its own crew on its portion of the project, allowing the city's cost to be limited to materials and equipment rental.

Brewer said the department's budget has about $27,000 allocated toward the project.

"We believe we have sufficient funds available to complete the work that we've committed to complete," Brewer said in his report.

Gary Antone, Tehama County Public Works director, said the county will be using $21,000 in state transportation bond funds for its portion of the project.

Mayor Gary Strack said the project will take place this summer.

"That will avoid conflicts with the school traffic," Brewer said.