Low bids means increased road repairs in Bartlett
Low bids on the first portion of a villagewide road project in Bartlett will allow the village to fix 15 to 20 more miles of road than originally planned.
Public works director Paul Kuester said during a village board meeting Tuesday that the first year of the project — which includes improvements on 15 miles of road — will be completed by Plote Construction Inc., who submitted a bid of $2.7 million.
That amount was about $432,000 less than what a village engineer had estimated, giving the village room to fix more roads than anticipated in the upcoming years.
The goal of the project was to remill, patch and resurface 40 miles of roads throughout the village that are considered “very poor” or “poor” over three years.
Kuester estimates the village will now be able to repair 55 to 60 miles of roads during that time, including some roads labeled as being in “average” condition.
“We’re going to get more streets done in our town and really have a bigger impact,” Kuester said, adding that he was extremely pleased with the low bids. “Forty miles of streets is a big impact, but if I can get any more than that ... it’s just going to help the community even more.”
The project is being funded by nearly $12 million in bonds issued in March.
“The bottom line is this money will go back into our funds for next year,” Kuester said.
The last time the village used bonds for road work was in 2002 for the widening of West Bartlett Road.
Currently, the village is resurfacing only about 2 percent of its 141 miles of roads each year, creating a large work backlog. Work by Plote is expected to be complete by mid-November.