Bid approved for sidewalk project

By Randy Bell    

Work is expected to get underway by late August or early September to build a sidewalk on the south side of East College Street from the eastern edge of the Mississippi Christian University campus to near Fairmont Street.  Simmons Erosion Control of Lake had the low bid of $328,846 for the project, which is being partially funded by a Transportation Alternatives Program grant administered by the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT). The City is providing a twenty per cent match.

Consulting City Engineer Bill Owen says the Mississippi Transportation Commission (MTC) will be asked to sign off on the bid package “because there are federal monies involved.”  That approval is expected this month.

“They’ll get it back to us, and then we’ll get it to the contractor [who] has two months after they’re notified that everything is good to request a notice to proceed.”

But Owen says it may not take that long before the company is ready to start work.

And once it begins, “It’s going to be a quick project,” Owen says.  “They’ve only got thirty-one working days which, basically, is about a month and a half of calendar days, to build right at 2,000 feet of sidewalk.”

Unlike typical sidewalks, this one will be eight feet wide, to allow more space for two-way pedestrian traffic and wheelchair access.  And, by constructing the sidewalk only three feet from the edge of the street, less earthwork will be required, reducing the cost of the project.

Moving it farther away from the pavement would have necessitated the construction of a retaining wall or a reduction in the sidewalk’s width.

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Owen notes that a safety feature will be added at the point where the new sidewalk ties into the existing sidewalk near the MC Arts Complex.

“That’s such a steep slope, it has to have handrails on it,” he says.

Additionally, the steps at that location will be replaced by a ramp.