As Phase 1 of the Harlem Avenue project in Monmouth is complete, the focus has shifted to Phase 2, which was originally planned to go out for bid. Public Works Director Brayden Bledsoe explains that the Illinois Department of Transportation has presented the City with an option to roll Phase 2 into the existing Phase 1 contract:
“IDOT actually proposed to us that if we work with them, they were willing to take Phase 2, which is from G Street to the bypass, that is where the asphalt section is going to be and roll it underneath the Phase 1 contract. The City is still paying for that, but the benefit is we don’t have to pay for the engineering cost. The other benefit is we got a very favorable price from Brandt Construction because they are already on the project,” says Bledsoe.
“The thing we are working through right now with the state of Illinois, with IDOT, is when they are going to be able to push Brandt to get out there and finish up the road. We are still hopeful to see that done this year, but with being asphalt the timetable is tightening down unfortunately. The benefit is, once we do get started out there, whenever the state is able to get our contractors started, we are only expecting two or three weeks of work to have that whole section done,” Bledsoe adds.
Bledsoe added that the Illinois Department of Transportation’s approval of the contract change order increases the likelihood that Phase 2 of Harlem Avenue can be completed this calendar year.
