By Gary Lloyd
TRUSSVILLE — A second project and the completion of the greenway project in Trussville will take place early next year, according to Alabama Department of Transportation officials.
ALDOT Preconstruction Engineer Lance Taylor said the second project will be done in early 2015 to address the remaining sidewalks and complete the construction that began some time back.
Bids were opened May 30 for the addressing of the parking area around the Veterans Memorial Monument at Civitan Park and the sidewalks down to the Cahaba River.
“This work should be completed by the Fall of this year,” Taylor said in an email.
The apparent low bidder was Walker Patton Company, Inc. at $388,248.22. Triple J Construction bid $391,868 and Veterans Landscape bid $461,042.92.
All bids, however, will be reviewed by the Alabama Department of Transportation Bid Review Committee. The awarding of the bid will go to the low bidder after about four to six weeks after the letting of the bid. The contractor will then have 15 days from a notice to proceed to begin work. Time charges will begin on that date whether work is started or not.
ALDOT has reported that the project should move forward after July Fourth, subject to the contractor meeting all requirements.
The Civitan Park greenway project in Trussville was divided into two jobs in November 2013. The first job will involve finishing the parking at the park and landscaping around the Veterans Memorial Monument. The second aspect involves the rest of the site, including linking the greenway from Civitan Park to the Trussville Sports Complex along the Cahaba River.
The Trussville City Council in November approved of spending $16,053 with engineering company KBR to supervise the project.
The $1.7 million greenway project began in April 2012 and was supposed to have been completed in the fall of 2012. The project has been in the works since 1998.
The project is funded with a federal grant and administered by ALDOT. The city of Trussville has no supervisory authority over the contractor.
Trussville Mayor Gene Melton spent much of last year’s Memorial Day weekend at Civitan Park as crews from ALDOT worked to address the problems the Alabama Department of Environmental Management listed in a project status report. Trussville could have faced a $50,000 fine had the problems not been corrected, which they were. The Trussville City Council in May 2013 approved of paying Cahaba Disaster Recovery up to $25,000 for work it did to clear debris from the Cahaba River on Memorial Day weekend. Melton said at the time that about 768 bales of hay were purchased and spread around the river at Civitan Park.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.