City council awards construction bid for Hitt Road improvements

“The actual construction bids on this project came out at a little over $2.1 million which is considerably lower than what we actually estimated we expected in the $2.9 to $3 million range,” said Kent Fugal the Idaho Falls city engineer.

Fugal says Ammon and Idaho Falls received estimates from four different construction companies.

The city council awarded the contract on the Thursday to the lowest bidder, DePacto.

The cities engineers came up with the design plan in just four months.

The plan is to widen the intersection at Sunnyside Road.

An extra left turn lane and a right turn lane will be at every approach.

The new plans will create a five lane section for a half mile down Sunnyside Road.

“The roadway design standards that we utilize both our local standards as well as the national standards are really centered around being able to provide the roadway capacity that we need in a fashion that best serves the roadway concerns of all roadway users,” said Fugal.

Other improvement for pedestrians and bikers will be an 11-foot multi-use pathway on the west side and a sidewalk on the east side of the road.

Streetlights will be installed along the entire corridor.

The city will also install a new traffic light system to accommodate the extra lanes.

Fugual says the city will include specific rules in the contract with the construction company to limit traffic issues.

“Anytime that we essentially have many drivers out there, especially during the day light hours we are requiring that all traffic movements be kept open,” said Fugual.

The city has a goal to have all of the work completed by July 1of next year.

Construction will not begin until the weather clears up in the spring.