A $10.17 million overpass project on East McCain Boulevard that has the potential to open up development on North Little Rock's eastern side will likely be ready to proceed by month's end.
The project where East McCain Boulevard turns into Fairfax Drive is also intended to reduce traffic delays and the risk of vehicle-train collisions at the railroad crossing.
Thomco Inc. of North Little Rock submitted the low bid from among four companies when bids were opened March 16.
The City Council will consider a resolution at its meeting today to accept the bid of $10,173,454. With an 80 percent-20 percent match, the city's share is $2,034,691. The federal share from the U.S. Department of Transportation, distributed through the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, is $8,138,763.
The City Council is expected to approve the resolution. The city's share is already in the 2016 general fund budget approved by the aldermen in December. North Little Rock had already spent $1.2 million by last year for the initial engineering, additional engineering, right of way acquisition and utilities relocation.
"There's a pre-construction conference set on [May] 24th," Chief City Engineer Chris Wilbourn said Friday. "I'll probably give notice to proceed on the 25th. The construction schedule is for 18 months, but Thomco Inc. says they can beat that schedule a little bit.
"Basically, it's taking away an at-grade railroad crossing and putting in a bridge," Wilbourn said. "There is indeed a safety factor to it. It's also a timing thing because that's a very busy railroad track."
Eliminating the at-grade crossing also opens up the possibility for better traffic connections on the city's east side. Fairfax Drive ends at Arkansas 161, which crosses under Interstate 40 to its south. There was also community discussion that began in early 2014 about the possibility to someday extend East McCain southeast to create a commercial corridor near an Interstate 440 interchange with I-40 once the railroad overpass is completed.
"This project will open up a huge part of the city for development," city spokesman Nathan Hamilton said Friday. "Being able to grow within our city limits and not rely on annexation makes us a stronger city financially.
"Mayor [Joe] Smith has worked for many years to make this dream a reality for the businesses and residents on the east side of our town," Hamilton said.
The project suffered a delay last year when the Federal Highway Administration withdrew more than $8 million in U.S. transportation money that had been committed to the overpass project. Although city and state officials said at that time that the project was expected to still go forward, federal funds were no longer guaranteed.
The withdrawal of the commitment for funding was because the money wasn't being used as the project hadn't advanced through the necessary stages to reach construction, highway officials said last year. The federal funds were committed again later in 2015.
Metro on 05/09/2016