Sidewalks for East Jefferson Street remain a high priority for Franklin officials, but bid issues have pushed the project back to 2024.
Twice now bids have come in too high to be awarded for the project to build sidewalks on Jefferson Street, Milford Drive and Middleton Drive, and install stormwater pipe at Jefferson Street and Middleton Drive.
The sidewalk is planned to be installed on both sides of East Jefferson Street where there are missing sections from Forsythe Street to the end of the road. Sidewalk will also be installed on the west side of Milford Drive and both sides of Middleton Drive from Jefferson Street to King Street, project documents show.
The project is funded partially with federal money from the Safe Routes to School program that is disbursed to the city through the Indiana Department of Transportation. Because of this, the bid process is being led by INDOT, and the bids were struck down twice because of the state law that says bids more than 20% higher than the engineer’s estimate cannot be awarded, said Mark Richards, city engineer.
Like residents who’ve been asking for sidewalks in that area for years, city officials are also disappointed to see the project pushed back again, Mayor Steve Barnett said.
“We’ve been talking about this for four years now. And we’ve been telling the residents who are wanting the sidewalks … ‘next year, next year.’ Well, here we are again,” Barnett said. “We’re trying our best but, you know, when the bids are too high, you’ve got to be responsible with your funds.”
In January, a bid came at $1.1 million for the initial estimate of about $800,000. The estimate was adjusted upward to $1.2 million for April bid letting, but the one bid that come in was even higher, at $1.5 million, Richards said.
With the hope to avoid the possibility of bids coming in too high again, Richards said the city is going to delay joining another INDOT bid process until October. At this time, contractors will be looking to fill out their schedule for next year and the bids are more likely to be lower to meet the state’s threshold for awarding a bid, he said.
Between now and October, the city’s consultant for the project will be keeping an eye on bid prices to create an awardable estimate, Richards said.
With an October bid date, the project would be completed in 2024. In another effort to get a good price, the city will allow the contractor to complete the work anytime in 2024, Richards said.
Whatever the price ends up being, the city has $452,080 from the Safe Routes to School program to pair with city dollars to complete it. That amount is the remainder of the Safe Routes award the city received for this project and a trail project on State Road 44 from the roundabout to Custer Baker Intermediate School and Creekside Elementary, Richards said.
This portion of the Safe Routes funding is aimed to make it easier for students to get to Needham and Webb elementaries from the neighborhood.
