City approves Fort Sidney Road project

At a meeting earlier this month, the city council approved a bid for the Fort Sidney Road federal aid project. The bids for the mill and overlay project on Fort Sidney from Highway 30 to 11th Ave. were opened Oct. 24. The state received two bids, one from Simon Contractors and one from Werner construction.

“The bids were very competitive,” said public services director John Hehnke.

Simon Contractors offered the lower bid in the amount of around $740,000 while Werner bid around $760,000. Hehnke requested council approval of the Simon bid so the department of roads could begin the contract award process. Once the project is to 90 percent plans, it’s sent to the department of roads and it bids the project out.

“This was a project that, there was some additional money that became available and because we had a shovel-ready project we were able to get it on their funding schedule,” said city manager Gary Person.

Under other circumstances, this project might have taken years to complete, Person added.

The city was able to supplement the federal aid money through the Prairie Winds subdivision redevelopment plan, which borders Fort Sidney Road. Even though there were many steps in the process, it’s still a good deal for the community, Person said.

“I took the leap of faith and went after the funds I could get, federal aid, to get some of our major roads taken care of,” Hehnke said.

Work on this project will begin sometime late next summer, Hehnke predicted. The city is responsible for 20 percent of the bill for this project, which will be much less than what it was originally estimated that the city would have to pay.

“It never hurts to have a little bit of extra money sitting around for roads,” Hehnke said.

The Simon bid is below the original estimate for the project, which is confidential.