The city has hit an unexpected snag in its plan to reconstruct the problematic intersection at Constitution Avenue and Circle Drive: No one wants to do the work for the money the city has to spend.

Andy Garton, senior civil engineer with the city, said this week that four bids from qualified contractors were recently submitted, ranging from $1.8 million to $2.2 million.

The city has $1 million to $1.5 million. That’s what engineers predicted the project would cost in 2004, when it was included in a list ofprojects to be financed by a one-cent sales tax voters approved later that year.

Garton said that after the high bids came in, city engineers looked over the plans to see if there was any work that could be cut to drop the price. No luck. Garton said the city doesn’t want to cheap-out on the job and then have to find money later to do what should have been done when the intersection was ripped up.

Instead, the city is preparing to change the bid format from what is called an “invitation for bid,” which seeks the lowest and best price with no negotiation, to a “request for proposal,” which allows some negotiation.

Garton said the city thinks it can get better bids by relaxing how many days it will allow the busy intersection to be closed for construction work. Originally, the city was going to allow contractors to close it for only two weekends (one of those would allow a three-day closure).

Now, the city may allow closure of the intersection for up to two weeks, during which time commuter traffic would be diverted to Academy or Union boulevards. Local traffic, Garton said, could use nearby residential streets to get to their homes.

Garton said allowing the closure on just weekends means contractors would have to pay their crews overtime and pay extra for concrete and asphalt plants to remain open.

“None of the contractors’ bids were necessarily completely out in left field,” he said. “Our engineer’s estimate was low – it’s hard for us to estimate the premium for restricting a contractor so extensively.”

Garton hopes with the relaxed closure rules, contractors will do some negotiating with the city that will result in a lower price.He said the city hopes to get the work done before school starts at nearby Wasson High School in the fall.

If the city gets a contractor for the job, it will be required to:

– Widen both roads just before and through the intersection to standard-width lanes.

– Raise the grade on North Circle past the intersection by four feet, allowing motorists to move through the intersection without slowing for what is now a bad dip.

– Move and upgrade drainage systems to ease flooding in the area.

– Extend the westbound, eastbound and southbound right-turn lanes to ease congestion.

– Correct a tight, nasty right turn from northbound Circle onto eastbound Constitution.

– Build a tunnel under Circle for the Rock Island bike path.

– And lastly, update signal lights and install handicap ramps.

Tell me your commuter tales: 636-0197 or bill.mckeown@gazettedev.gazette.com.

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