Bismarck Tribune - Bismarck News - Bid awarded for Washington project

Bid awarded for Washington project

Mar 28, 2007 - 04:04:48 CDT

By GORDON WEIXEL
Bismarck Tribune

In what was hailed as a historic motion Tuesday, the Bismarck City Commission voted 4-0 to award the reconstruction contract for a four-block section of Washington Street to Northern Improvement for $2,381,251.95.

Commissioner Connie Sprynczynatyk, who has been instrumental in getting the Street Improvement Project 59 to bid, noted that 59 was just about how many years the city has been trying to get a project approved for Washington from Rosser to Avenue D.

City engineer Mel Bullinger read the results of the bids at Tuesday's commission meeting. He recommended Northern Improvement as the low bidder, noting it fell with 5 percent of the engineer's estimate of just over $2 million. The total project, with the addition of contingencies, added items by others, and engineering fees, will reach nearly $2.66 million.

Commissioner Sandi Tabor asked the city to address a four-to-five-block stretch of Avenue C which intersects Washington. She pointed out it was in bad shape and patching has been of little help. It's estimated that the cost of milling and laying new asphalt will cost between $80,000 and $100,000.

Sprynczynatyk, in her motion to award the Washington Street project, included the Avenue C work if it was possible.

Bullinger said he had talked to city financial director Sheila Hillman, and about $2.2 million is available for the project through city sales tax money. About $500,000 of the project includes utility improvements, which will be paid from utility funds.

"This is a landmark vote 50 years in the making,"Mayor John Warford said. "I can't emphasize enough the process and the leadership shown by Commissioner Sprynczynatyk in bringing everybody together for a positive community-wide project that everybody appears pretty happy with."

Sprynczynatyk, in turn, applauded the residents of the Cathedral Historic District, who she said worked incredibly hard to come to an agreement on the project.

"I believe the community will be proud of how the street looks," Sprynczynatyk said. "It will also improve the level of service from an F to a B."

"It preserves the historic district flavor," Warford agreed. "We'll actually be able to celebrate the wonderful historic homes while enhancing that part of town while solving the traffic problem."

Washington Street is Bismarck's only route that can be traveled the entire length of the community from north to south. The four-block area has long been considered a bottleneck which has slowed traffic and provided safety concerns.

The reconstruction project, which should start this spring, will widen the four-block stretch to add a center turn lane, and replace a four-way stop at the intersection with Avenue C with signal lights to improve traffic flow. Many amenities have been added to the project, including period lighting and special markers to enhance the project and provide greater appeal to the neighborhood.

Commissioner Dave Jensen, who had been participating in the meeting via conference call, had to leave before the vote on Washington. The commissioners agreed that Jensen would have wanted to participate in solving what he has long believed to be a major traffic problem for the city.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)

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Comments

assessment wrote on Mar 28, 2007 9:28 PM:

" Don't forget to special assess the residents for all those enhancements "

VoteForConnie wrote on Mar 28, 2007 9:27 PM:

" I think some part of the project should be named after Connie so the people will remember who did this "

former Bismarck resident wrote on Mar 28, 2007 8:52 PM:

" I am thrilled to read that the City had finally voted for the Washington Street reconstruction contract(s). I was on a citizen committee back in the late '70s when I lived in the city(although the group had begun ten years earlier) and there was still so much frustration and anger over the idea of widening the street, I expected it would take a few more years to haggle over, but not forty years. Wow! Kudos to the City Commission for its perseverance. "

one person wrote on Mar 28, 2007 5:49 PM:

" I'm in favor of improving traffic flow and preserving historic neighborhoods. My question is who’s paying for the special pedestrian lighting and other aesthetic amenities? Signal lights, directional signage and other road improvement essentials should be paid for in the same manner as any other city traffic/safety improvement area. But extras should be paid for by the adjacent property owners. Special lighting and markers are not necessary to “mitigate the negative effects of any road widening project on the neighborhood”. And if you don’t agree, then you’d have to extend your logic to other road projects and neighborhoods in our city. Or is your neighborhood entitled to special treatment? Sorry, but being the “only residential National Register historic district, which makes it significant to ALL the citizens of Bismarck” is not convincing. All of Bismarck’s neighborhoods are significant! In addition, I believe most Bismarck citizens would rather, if given a choice, use our tax dollars to improve blighted areas than improve property values in an established, upscale residential neighborhood. As to my presence at the public meetings? No, I was not there. Primarily because I (foolishly) thought our city leaders were representing the best interests of all the taxpayers and second, I don’t have the time or stomach for arguing with what was undoubtedly a majority of neighborhood property owners seeking out special treatment. "

Dale's not completely right wrote on Mar 28, 2007 4:59 PM:

" For most of us, the change won't hurt. But those in the neighborhood might think they won a battle with the city. But when the green light allows steady north-south flow on Washington those folks won't be able to get out of their driveways due to traffic speeds and flow. When the red light stops the flow of traffic, those folks won't be able to get out of their driveways due to cars backing up until the light turns green again. Sorry, but you won a battle and lost a war. "

mry wrote on Mar 28, 2007 4:25 PM:

" This is a win-win situation. Dale got it right -- everyone benefits when the city does something well, and this project has been well-planned. Now it has a chance to be well-executed, too. To "one person," were you at any of the public meetings? Because the city and the engineers did an excellent job of explaining how the enhancements would mitigate the negative effects of the road widening project on the neighborhood. This is Bismarck's only residential National Register historic district, which makes it significant to ALL the citizens of Bismarck. But beyond that, the public input process pioneered by this project can be used to develop better projects all over the city. "

GL wrote on Mar 28, 2007 3:58 PM:

" Finally.. And to Northern Improvement too.. A great day in Bismarcks History. "

Happy wrote on Mar 28, 2007 12:07 PM:

" I look forward to the new look and improved roads! Thanks! :-) "

Dale wrote on Mar 28, 2007 12:00 PM:

" This sounds like a reasonable solution, keep the trees, add a turn lane and signal, promote the historic nature of the neighborhood, and give us something to enhance our community! Everybody wins. "

Al Gee wrote on Mar 28, 2007 11:38 AM:

" To Failure. Don't worry about this band-aid plan. The next time an upgrade to this debacle will happen, we'll all be driving flying cars. "

Dan wrote on Mar 28, 2007 10:51 AM:

" And to think...it ONLY took about 50 friggin' years for this to actually come to fruition. Progress is such a wonderful thing...Bismarck ought to TRY IT some time. "

Failure wrote on Mar 28, 2007 10:28 AM:

" Too bad this is not the best plan to remedy the situation. Only a band-aid plan. Our city commission has failed once again. "

BisDriver wrote on Mar 28, 2007 10:15 AM:

" With only one true North South route in Bismarck this will do nothing since traffic will only increase. "

one person wrote on Mar 28, 2007 9:25 AM:

" Hopefully, the turn lane and signal lights will relieve the congestion at this intersection. Only time will tell. But can someone please tell us now - HOW MUCH DID THE PERIOD LIGHTING, SPECIAL MARKERS AND OTHER ELEMENTS ADDED TO “ENHANCE THE PROJECT AND PROVIDE GREATER APPEAL TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD” COST AND WHO IS PAYING FOR THEM? If the City of Bismarck and its citizens are paying for these extra features, then this "historic" plan is nothing more than a buy off. Sprynczynatyk said, "I believe the community will be proud of how the street looks". I don’t recall anyone complaining about how the street looks, just about how the traffic backed up. Improved traffic flow was (supposedly) the goal of this project. If the turn lane and lights are successful, the neighborhood already benefits. The current situation with lines of idling cars backed up at the stop signs and other cars shortcutting through the side streets should be alleviated. But apparently that wasn’t enough. The Cathedral Historic District residents needed more and have now been given additional perks which will ultimately improve property values in an already upscale residential neighborhood. "

whiny treehugger wrote on Mar 28, 2007 7:13 AM:

" I can't believe the city commission allowed the project to go through. These capitalists, neotraffic fiends will be cutting down ALL the trees along Washington to complete this project. The wildlife will be forced to sit on the street and get squashed by traffic causing their extinction. The air will be fouled with smog that these majestic trees used to convert back into oxygen and other byproducts. Car accidents will soar with all the extra traffic, killing the children who were able to escape being aborted. This lack of replacement workforce will force immigrants to leave the protection of their Mexican homes and travel to Bismarck to fill those jobs. Eventually everyone will speak spanish and all the street signs will need to be replaced an phone messages will need to add "press 1 for English". Bismarck will be renamed El Cabo Bismarco and demand to be returned to Mexican citizenship. Once this happens all the residents will flee and illegally immigrate to New Salem. All this because it takes 3 minutes to get through the Washington/Ave C intersection. Oh by the way, this was a parody of the people who oppose this construction. - Beesh "

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