Ottawa city commissioners voted 5-0 Wednesday to recommend sending Killough Construction Inc.’s bid of $1,227,436.92 to Kansas Department of Transportation officials for their approval. KDOT, which is funding nearly all of the project, must review and award the bid.
Once the contract is awarded, the contractor would set the schedule for the project, which could get underway this spring or sooner, weather permitting. City officials have estimated the work would take four to five months to complete.
Killough Construction, 3633 U.S. 59, Ottawa, submitted the low bid for the improvement project, which will add turning lanes — on the north side of K-68 as well as on Davis Road — and a traffic signal at the intersection. The project also will include sidewalks along K-68 and Davis Road at and near the intersection, as well as improvements to the stormwater drainage system. The widening of K-68 on the north side of the highway also will allow a wider turning radius for trucks accessing the Ottawa Industrial Park, Andy Haney, the city’s public works director, said.
Under the project agreement, KDOT has pledged to cover as much as $1,461,000 of the construction costs. KDOT engineers designed the improvements for the intersection, in consultation with the city, and the state agency covered those engineering costs.
Haney told commissioners at a recent meeting the city already had secured easements and moved city utilities in preparation for the project. City officials previously had estimated the city’s cost of the project would be about $150,000.
Killough’s bid came in $233,563.10 under the amount of funding KDOT has committed for the project, which would allow some wiggle room for additional expenses that might be incurred during construction, Haney said.
The city would have to cover any construction costs that would exceed KDOT’s allotted $1,461,000, Haney said.
Doug Carder is senior writer for The Herald. Email him at dcarder@ottawaherald.com