Work is set to get underway soon on the long-awaited reconstruction of Hillcrest Drive after the City Council approved a contract for the work on Monday.
The $2.2 million project, approved by voters in the 2013 Half-cent Capital Improvement Project election, involves reconstructing Hillcrest Drive from the Caney River to just north of 20th Street.
“The new roadway will be constructed parallel to the existing alignment to maintain traffic flow throughout construction,” said Director of Engineering Micah Siemers, noting the new alignment will be located on the southwesterly side of the existing roadway.
“Fortunately, the City of Bartlesville has 100 feet of right-of-way on each side of the centerline of the existing roadway which allows construction of a new alignment rather than having to replace the roadway in its current location,” he said.
The new alignment will transition to the existing roadway just north of the Caney River on the south end of the project and just north of 20th Street on the north end of the project. The new roadway will consist of two 12-foot-wide drive lanes with 6-foot-wide asphalt shoulders. Turn lanes will be provided at Shawnee and 20th Street.
Siemers said bids were in excess of the budgeted $2.2 million but that staff had worked to reduce costs where possible.
“While the final amount that could be extracted will have to be finalized and coordinated with the selected contractor, staff believes that the project can be reduced to within approximately $25,000 of the budget,” he said, noting the extra funds are available through saved costs on other street projects.
“The approximate $25,000 shortfall estimated after value engineering the project can be covered solely by savings from other street projects rather than tapping into project budgets that have not been bid yet,” he said.
The council voted 4-0 to award a contract to Brent Bell Construction Co. of Bartlesville in the amount of $2,455,218 with the understanding that $255,218.25 in budget shortfall will be covered by savings on other street projects combined with funds set aside for Fiscal Year 2020-21 street projects that have not been bid yet.
Construction is likely to begin in April and will take close to a full year to complete.