Bids for the street improvement portion of a $4.5 million Columbus capital improvements project will be opened on Oct. 16, with construction set to begin later that month.
The list of streets that will be improved has been finalized by city project firm J5 Broaddus and engineering firm Neel-Schaffer after correspondence with councilmen over several months this year. Lists of drainage improvements and sidewalk work is still being tweaked and will be bid out as separate packages in November, J5 Broaddus Senior Project Manager Robyn Eastman said.
In June, city councilmen approved a $5 million bond issue to finance the work, including $500,000 in engineering, project managing and legal fees. A 15-year payment plan will begin next month to finance the bond. A 1.1-mill property tax increase, also approved by councilmen in June, will be used to make payments.
Eastman said he believes his firm, Neel-Schaffer and councilmen have done the best job possible to identify the most pressing infrastructure needs in each ward with the amount of money available.
“I’m very pleased with the product, and I think the citizens will be pleased with the results we’re going to turn out within 180 to 210 days,” Eastman said.
Between the three packages, the $4.5 million will be dispersed evenly between the city’s six wards. An original infrastructure survey compiled by J5 earlier this year came out to an estimated $6.3 million. That list has now been whittled down to get within the $4.5 million budget.
Visit cdispatch.com to view a finalized list of the street improvements out for bid.
Nathan Gregory covers city and county government for The Dispatch.
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