The Challenge: Pawnee city had several blocks of asphalt streets that needed repair and replacement. The city hired our Transportation team to complete a Street Condition Study and ultimately identified approximately 50 blocks of asphalt street that needed improvements. After the city held several public hearings to gather feedback from citizens, the citizens agreed that something needed to be done. They were concerned about project costs but wanted a long-lasting project – not one that would “kick the can” down the road for a few years.
The Solution: The City Council hired us to complete a design on all 50 blocks, and ultimately determined that 25 blocks of construction would be financially feasible. To fund the project, the USDA-Rural Development agreed to provide long-term loans and the city used an increased property tax levy. During the design phase, we began informing potential contractors of the pending project. Several contractors were interested and were anxiously waiting project plans to come out for solicitation. In the end, a single contractor bid the lowest and was able to utilize several different crews at several locations at the same time. Initially, the project was anticipated to have a 12-month long timeline. However, because of our early communication with contractors at the design stage, the project was completed in four months.
Project Benefits: Thanks to the fact that the project finished in four months instead of 12, the whole community was thrilled. The citizens were happy thanks to the minimal time of disturbance and the contractor was able to fully utilize his forces and maximize his mobilization costs. Finally, the city appreciated the shorter timeline as it saved them approximately $50k in interim financing costs. What’s more, the city has an additional 25 blocks of shovel-ready, designed street improvements as future budgets allow.
