MOUNT VERNON – The Mount Vernon City Engineering Department has received two bids for the reconstruction of the South Main Street/Parrott Street intersection.
City engineer Brian Ball said both bids were slightly below the department’s $1.6 million projection; Elite Excavating bid $1,592,012.00 while Layton, Inc. bid $1,587,733.23.
The department will not be able to award a contract until July 1, as it is planning to apply grant money from the Ohio Public Works Commission which will not be available until that time.
The city will receive $450,000 in grant money from the commission to fund the project. They will then take out a zero-interest loan from the commission for $558,620 to go towards the intersection as well. The city’s water utility will fund the moving of the water line that runs through the intersection and the city’s road and bridge fund will foot the remainder of the bill.
Ball said the construction costs were included in the city budget when the engineering department devised the project’s application last year.
Genesee & Wyoming, the company that owns the railroad that runs alongside the intersection, will receive funding from the Ohio Rail Development Commission to restructure its tracks for the project.
“Our project will probably take quite a bit longer than their project,” Ball said in reference to the railroad company. “So we’re hoping their project will happen during their construction phase, to sort of minimize the effects that it has on the detour and having the road closed. We’re still working to coordinate that, the railroad’s always a variable.”
Columbia Gas, CenturyLink and AEP are all working to find contractors that will move their lines for the project, Ball said.
As Knox Pages reported last week, construction on the intersection is expected to begin in late July and last roughly 180 days, placing the estimated finish line in November.
Given the numerous utility lines that weave through the intersection, as well as the high volume of traffic that passes through it on a daily basis, the project is expected to be a challenge.
“It’s not going to be an easy project,” city safety service director Joel Daniels said. Daniels believes that every school bus in Mount Vernon passes through the intersection “once or twice a day” during the school year.
Ball said once the city awards a contract in July, it will be able to discuss potential detour routes for the intersection.
“We want to make it as safe and efficient as we can,” Ball said.
Ball said last week the proposed detours will not cause inconveniences for bus drivers or students, and many drivers will be grateful not to have to pass over the intersection.
Construction on the intersection has been on the city’s radar “for a few years now,” Daniels said. The pavement on both sides of the railroad tracks is bumpy and inconsistent, creating an intense drop-off from the tracks.
The goal is to change the elevation of the intersection, creating a smoother ride for motorists.
“That’s been a very rough intersection to negotiate for school buses, semi-trucks and just the motoring public. So that’s going to be a good project,” Daniels said. “And there will be some inconvenience with that. We’ll try and maintain traffic as best we can, but there’s an awful lot of cars that go through that intersection every day.”
