Yellow Pages
MOUNT VERNON — Bids opened Tuesday for a Mount Vernon road project funded by the federal stimulus program came in below the city’s cost estimate.
With a bid just under $1.4 million, Interwest Construction of Burlington was the apparent low bidder for extending LaVenture Road from Fowler to Blackburn Road. Mount Vernon Public Works had estimated that the cost of this phase of the Anderson-LaVenture project would be $1.664 million, Assistant Public Works Director Mike Love said.
The City Council will accept the lowest valid bid. Construction is scheduled for the end of the year.
This first phase of the project adds 1,300 feet to LaVenture Road. Ultimately, LaVenture and Anderson roads will be connected to create an alternate route for travelers on Interstate 5 heading to Sedro-Woolley and points upriver, relieving congestion on College Way.
Another local road project funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will cost much less than the original estimate. The winning bid for improvements to Fruitdale and McGarigle roads in Sedro-Woolley was from G.G. Excavation of Anacortes, with a bid of $3.76 million. The city had anticipated the project would cost $5.41 million.
Bid amounts have reflected the increased competition among contractors during the recession, when jobs have been more scarce.
