Wright County's Bertram Construction Project On Schedule

Press release from the Wright County Government:

June 5, 2020

Those who have visited Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park over the last month have witnessed a hotbed of activity, as the road project on Briarwood Avenue NE and construction inside the park is nearing completion.

The project was altered in March after the contactor (Bradbury Stamm Construction) informed Parks and Recreation Director Marc Mattice that all of the construction and installation of plumbing and wiring could be done this season instead of being spread out between two summers.

The result was changing the construction schedule on the fly, pushing back the installation of a playground and establishing a campground to 2021 and getting principal construction work done this summer.

As for the work going on inside the park, Mattice said all is going well and most elements of project are on schedule or ahead of schedule.

“The construction has gone on schedule and is looking good,” Mattice said. “We will probably finish the trail work by mid-June with the trail bridge going up in early July. Campground construction is going very well. We have the building started and the camper cabins and site improvements have started. People are walking out there and seeing those frames up and getting excited about the chance to camp at Bertram.”

The same is true for the road work on Briarwood Avenue. Construction began on May 18 and Mattice said that portion of the project should be done within the next two weeks.

“The road construction on Briarwood should be wrapped up by the middle of June,” Mattice said. “It’s on schedule, for the most part the weather has cooperated and we’re expecting that to be done on time, as well.”

Mattice added that this has been a unique undertaking for his department. He’s no stranger to projects within the parks, but including a road construction project outside the park at the same time is a rarity.

He admitted there were some questions about how smoothly the operation would go with moving parts inside and outside the park, but, with the 2020 portion of the project looking to wrap up in the coming weeks, he has been pleased with how seamless the work has been to date.

“We’ve done projects like this before,” Mattice said. “The only difference is that our parks projects don’t often include road projects outside the park as part of them. We’re happy with how things have gone and will be happier with how everything looks when it’s completed. I think people who use Bertram will be happy with the results, too.”

This press release was produced by the Wright County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.