Ellis Construction Company submitted the low bid for the U.S. Highway 65 widening project within Hollister city limits, but must wait until Oct. 1 to know if the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Commission has approved their bid. City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss released this information Thursday afternoon at a Partners In Progress meeting at Hollister Town Hall.
Ellis Construction Company was announced as the low-bidder for the project, but we still must wait until MoDOT gives us an approval of the bid, Ziegenfuss said. “I have talked to MoDOT officials in Jefferson City and they have assured me that Ellis Construction is a very reputable company and that there should be no problems.”
The project was originally put out for bids and APAC Missouri was announced as the low-bidder in July, but APAC Missouri is under federal indictment and was not approved by the MoDOT Commission, according to Ziegenfuss.
“APAC Missouri had bid $16,488,927.25 for the project and their bid was millions of dollars lower than any of the other four bidders,” Ziegenfuss said. The second bids were opened and Ellis Construction was the low-bidder with a bid of $19,247,297.10, which is considerably higher than APAC Missouri’s original bid.
“When we first made our agreement with MoDOT, we agreed to $19 million being the maximum that we could pay half, with us paying $9.5 million,” he added. “This is the maximum that we will pay for our share of the project even though both the City and MoDOT realized that the project could cost more. MoDOT has agreed that they will pay all of the excesses over the $19 million total so that the project can be completed.”
The project was scheduled to start on Oct. 16 after the first bid process, but even with the delay of the additional bidding process, the new start date for the two-year project will be Oct 18, according to Ziegenfuss.
“When we first began talking of this joint venture with MoDOT, it was very clear that they would not want to spend any more money in the Hollister area for many years, so we decided to make improvements that should last us 25 years,” he added. “We will easily to able to handle between 58,000 to 68,000 cars daily through the city on U.S. Highway 65.”
According to Ziegenfuss, all existing roads will remain open until the final phase of the project. At that time, they will be closed and only the new improved entrances and exits to the new highway will be utilized. During the construction, road information will be broadcast on MoDOT radio 1610 AM, City of Hollister website at cityofhollister.com and the MoDOT website at modot.state.mo.us.
Courtesy of Branson Daily Independent