By Linda Stinnett

Meadowlark, east from Rock Road to the city limits, will become a nearly $2.7 million urban street in the coming months.

Construction will start this week on the roadway. When it is completed by Dec. 1, it will have turn lanes, curb and gutter, stormwater sewers, a school zone, a school crossing, sidewalks and landscaping, according to Dan Squires, city engineer.

After completion, the roadway will have as many as five lanes in some places – two lanes each way, with a dedicated center left turn lane, and then will taper down to two lanes at the city limits, Squires said.

Cornejo and Sons had the low bid for the project, $2,650,566. The bid was $1 million less than the estimate by the project engineer but $242,284 under the amount budgeted by the city for 2012 Capital Improvement Project funding.

In addition to the savings on construction costs, the city will take advantage of just over $1 million in Build America Bonds to help finance the project. Those bonds are part of federal economic recovery funding which saves the city in financing costs.

 Nearly $184,247 of the project costs will be paid by the surrounding property owners in Hamilton Estates, Springridge, Amber Ridge, Derby Marketplace and St. Mary. For those property owners, Squires noted that typically the projects cost only one-half to one-fourth of the amount the developer originally included in the petition for construction.

“The nice thing is usually for economy of scale they get pennies on the dollar for what they petition,” Squires said. “It works out well for them.” 

User Comments

• Improvements

  "This area needs road improvments, sometimes it is a trick to make a left out of the dillions marketplace parking lot "

  Posted by Chad Parker on Feb. 16, 2012