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10/12/2010

DAVID CLOUSTON

Lower bids will mean a better road surface for a portion of North Ohio Street.

Saline County commissioners agreed, at their formal meeting Tuesday, to pay APAC-Kansas $355,000 for the first phase of improvements to North Ohio Street between Frisbie Way and Humbargar Road.

They had expected to pay $750,000 for the project, which includes grading and reconfiguring the road to improve the ditches and road foundation, plus laying additional gravel to prepare for paving.

At an afternoon study session, commissioners voted unanimously to take bids for paving the 1.7 mile stretch with asphalt. They’ll solicit bids for the laying of six inches of asphalt, which County Engineer Neil Cable estimates could cost up to $640,000, and alternate bids for seven inches of asphalt.

“We get (the paving) done for what we’d set aside for the whole first phase of the project,” said Commissioner John Reynolds. “That’s not too bad, guys.”

The original plan called for applying a paving mix composed of hot oil and crushed stone, at a cost estimated at $250,000. But asphalt will last longer and require less maintenance, officials said.

Traffic counts indicate a need for improvements to the road, which serves the Big Valley housing subdivision. The subdivision has 42 lots and about 14 homes. Another housing subdivision is planned on property across Ohio Street to the east.

Cable said APAC officials think they can finish the first phase of the job before the end of March. Although the company would have to submit a bid and be selected for the paving, “they truly think they can roll right into the paving and you could have a paved road out there by April, if we elect to go this way,” Cable said.


Read the rest of this story in Wednesday’s Journal.