Work to be done in phases as part of 1st Street project
The Aurora City Council gave its final blessing last week to plans and specifications for additional work in the Streeter Fifth Addition as part of the 1st Street construction project scheduled to start in May.
Payton Best, a transportation engineer with JEO Consulting, explained to the council during its April 23 meeting various details involved with the paving, storm sewer, water and sanitary sewer improvements planned in the Streeter Fifth Addition. She noted that bids will be sought immediately, with bid opening scheduled for May 9 and awarding of the bids expected at the May 14 council meeting.
Best advised the council that the Streeter’s Fifth Addition work will be completed in phases, with the first phase scheduled for substantial completion by Sept. 15, 2024. The second phase will involve construction of water mains and utility relocations on 1st Street as part of a major renovation planned along that roadway beginning in mid-May.
The Aurora City Council approved an amendment to the 1st Street improvement project plan at its March 26 meeting which will in effect provide a back-door exit to residents along 1st Street once construction begins.
JEO Consulting Group’s Andrew Wilshusen explained to city leaders that the need for an alternate route during the construction period had been brought up several times since the project was announced, leading to the change. Without that change, residents living west of 1st Street would have limited options for getting to and from their homes during certain phases of construction.
“In discussion with contractors, internally, we talked about extending the Grant Street entrance on the south side of the highway to see if we could tie that into this subdivision,” Wilshusen told the council during its March 26 meeting. “There would be a lot of benefits to do this while we are doing construction of 1st Street as this would provide an outlet during construction to help eliminate any inconvenience throughout the construction project.”
The amendment approved last week involves the sanitary sewer, water main, storm sewer and paving improvements in the Streeter Subdivision from the intersection of Highlander Lane and Matson Street to the Grand Street intersection on Highway 34.
In addition to changes along that route, Wilshusen explained in March that the revised proposal included another loop in the water main.
“If something would happen while installing the water main, this would allow another source,” he explained. “Our plan is to put out an addendum to notify contractors that this would be added to the project.”
The 1st Street project has already been put out to bid, he noted, so providing this information to contractors who expressed interest in submitting a bid would eliminate the need, and time, to put the project out for bid a second time. JEO’s initial estimate for the project, before the amendments were approved, was $5.6 million.
Wilshusen advised the council that a number of contractors have expressed interest in bidding on this project, which he said he hopes will lead to competitive pricing.