COUNCIL HOPES TO AVOID SHUTTING DOWN BROADWAY DURING ROAD PROJECT

Shutting down parts of Broadway to widen it is an option to save money, but city officials are hopeful that it is a last resort.

"We shouldn't close down any city block that has a lot business," said Richard Eggimann, a Cape Girardeau city councilman. "I don't know if that will necessarily cut the cost of building the road. That is a theory. There is nothing in concrete that says it is so."

The Cape Girardeau City Council has rejected all three bids for the Broadway project because the bids were much higher than the Engineering Department's cost estimates. The bids ranged from $2.4 million to $2.6 million, which is higher than the city's estimate of about $2.16 million.

The Broadway project is part of the Transportation Trust Fund, which is a list of 20 street improvement projects that is funded by a one-half cent sales tax residents passed in 1995. The project involves widening and reconstructing Broadway Street from Clark Avenue to Perry Avenue. The plan is to widen the lanes, reconstruct parts of the street and cover the street with an asphalt overlay to smooth it out.

Cost estimates for the project were made more than one month ago. Mark Lester, Cape Girardeau city engineer, said one reason the bids were so high could be a change in the price of materials.

"There could have been a big jump in the price of materials in a month's time," Lester said. "The contractors have newer numbers than we do."

Lester said a few small changes in price of a large volume of materials can mean a big difference in the overall cost of a project. More than 50 percent of city's estimates for materials were lower than the prices listed in the bids. Lester said he is in the midst of going through each item that differs and trying to see what options the city has to bring the price down for the project.

"I'm looking from my viewpoint and seeing that their bids are too high," Lester said. "They are looking at it from their viewpoint and are seeing that the estimates are too low. What will probably happen is somewhere in the middle we will meet."

Another factor in the equation is that the good economy is hurting the process.

"The contractors are busy," Lester said. "If you want something done, you have to pull them off a job and you are going to have to make it worth their while."

Councilman Tom Neumeyer said the good economy is boosting up prices.

"It must be the law of supply and demand that is driving the cost up," Neumeyer said. "With the good economy, everybody is working at capacity. We don't have the competition."

Lester said he is reviewing the estimates and then he plans on taking a look at whether shutting down parts of Broadway will indeed save money with the project. He said if the project starts during the summer that might be feasible because the students are gone and there is less traffic.

More than likely, Lester said the city will turn parts of the road into a one-way street during construction rather than shutting parts of the street completely.

"I prefer that method over blocking the whole thing off," Lester said.

Lester said he will open up the bids again in about 30 to 45 days.

"All of the cards are on the table," Lester said. "They know the estimates and they know the competitors bids. The ultimate goal is to build the project as designed and to find a way to do it cheaper."

Cheaper may mean closing parts of Broadway. But Lester, Neumeyer and Eggimann said they want to make sure that the businesses are considered.