Financial help from the Southeast Regional Transportation Organization (SERTPO) to the City of Carlsbad for major work on Old Cavern Highway appears on the way.
Carlsbad City Councilors May 11 approved a funding request to SERTPO to reconstruct Old Cavern Highway from the intersection of National Parks Highway to the intersection of Farris Street, read a memo from City of Carlsbad Projects Administrator Ivan Abell to council members. Total estimated cost of the project was $528,000 per the memo.
The City is required to provide a 5 percent matching fund for the project through SERTPO or $26,000. Along with the grant application, councilors approved bidding advertisements for the project. Abell said there are multiple steps for the proposed project including, design, construction, pavement rehabilitation, construction management, drainage, milling and striping, the memo indicated.
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He said 3,300 feet of asphalt will be replaced when construction starts.
“The Old Cavern Highway project from National Parks to Farris is a planned maintenance for the road itself,” said Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway. “The upgrades will be to the road surface only, no widening or new sidewalks are part of this project.” He said SERTPO funding was typically awarded in September or October.
Plans for waterline work on Old Cavern Highway was rejected May 11 by the Council at the suggestion of City of Carlsbad staff.
In February a bid of $673,000 was submitted by File Construction. “The City’s best interest was to reject the bids and rebid the project at a future date,” wrote City of Carlsbad Purchasing Manager Matt Fletcher to councilors.
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Janway said the shortage and rising cost of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes was the reason for the shortage.
In his memo, Fletcher said frigid weather in Texas earlier this year resulted in the pipe shortage.
“The lack of availability of PVC pipe has caused a drastic increase in the materials cost of the project,” he stated in the memo. “The City believes that rebidding the project may allow time for the supply to replenish, therefore reducing the overall cost of the project and preventing the need for numerous change orders,” the memo added.
Fletcher cited in the memo, the City recently received grant funding allowing for a sewer line upgrade and a waterline upgrade on Old Cavern Highway. “Rejecting and rebidding will allow the City to combine these two projects into a single project that can be completed simultaneously making the project more cost effective and less of a burden on citizens living in the area of construction,” he noted in the memo.
Janway said the waterline project will go out for rebid this fall along with a proposed sewer extension and a road rehabilitation project.
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Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on Twitter.
