A contract was recently awarded for the East Adams Street improvement project in Washington, whose bid came in 8% higher than the engineer’s estimate.

The city council received two bids and awarded the low bid to Cornerstone Excavating, Inc. for about $1,463,695, over the engineer’s estimate of $1,357,286. City Administrator Deanna McCusker stated they believe the higher bid prices are a reflection of the current bidding climate which includes increased and uncertain material costs, and increasing fuel costs. Council At-Large Member Millie Youngquist mentioned that she had received questions from a resident about the electrical work involved, to which Mayor Jaron Rosien responded that Alliant Energy is investigating putting the electric underground, “Whether there’s time to do that is being evaluated and what side of the street the electric will go on will be evaluated. Because of the disruption that is the nature of this important project there’s a lot of moving parts. I received the same notice and just got information today that they’re still working out which side of the street it’s going to go on.”

McCusker added that Alliant Energy is holding a meeting with city officials in the coming weeks to discuss utility lines. The project is to pave East Adams between South 9th and South 15th avenues, install new stormwater sewer main and drainage structures, and install sidewalks. Work is expected to be finished approximately a year and a half from now.