Contractors wanting to bid on the city’s Highway 100 beautification project have until Monday, Nov. 26, to submit proposals.
The city began advertising the project last week.
Sealed bids will be accepted until 2 p.m. Nov. 26 at the office of City Clerk Mary Trentmann.
Specifications and bid documents may be obtained at the city engineer’s office at city hall upon payment of a $50 fee.
The project includes adding median landscaping along certain sections of Highway 100 between Highway 47 and East Fifth Street/South Point Road as well as additional signage and bike path markings.
Meanwhile, there has been a slight change in the project. Four trees that were proposed to be planted in the median just east of A. Roy Drive have been removed from the plan.
Judy Wagner, MoDOT area engineer, said the decision to remove the trees was due to the fact that when they mature they would block existing billboards in the area.
During their meeting Monday night, city council council members approved another agreement with MoDOT on wayfinding signage that will be installed along the sections where enhancements will be developed.
City Engineer Dan Boyce said the engineering staff worked closely with the Washington Area Chamber of Commerce on the wording for the wayfinding signs.
“They will match the existing signage” in other parts of the city, Mayor Sandy Lucy said.
The signs will direct people to various features, including downtown and shopping areas, as well as alert motorists to biking lanes along the route, according to exhibits that are part of the agreement.
Council members unanimously passed an ordinance authorizing the mayor to sign the agreement.
Last year, the city was awarded a $604,823 federal enhancement grant for the project. The city’s match is $151,206 in local funds. The grant pays for 80 percent of the project cost, including the engineering and design work.
The enhancements were designed by the consulting firm of Crawford, Murphy and Tilly Inc.
Last month, the city approved a supplemental agreement with MoDOT stating that the city will be solely responsible for maintaining the improvements, including walkways and bike trails, irrigation and drainage systems, trimming of shrubs, mowing and trimming between shrubs, “and other plantings that are part of the improvement.”
The plan is to review bids in December and award a contract in January 2013, followed by construction starting next spring.
Plantings for the new landscaped median strips will be done in the fall of 2013 to give the plants the best chance to thrive, city officials have said.
The entire project, including the alternate areas, will be included in the bid package and the final design selected based on the cost.
The city proposes to include irrigation systems for the planting areas.
The areas where medians with plantings are proposed include:
• Far West — from a point west of the JCPenney store for about 750 feet to Washington Heights Drive;
• West — from a point east of Washington Heights Drive for less than 300 feet to Camp Street;
• East — from a point east of the Wal-Mart SuperCenter entrance for about 460 feet;
• Option 1 — a 700-foot extension of the east area to near International Avenue/Rabbit Trail Drive; and
• Option 2 — from a point east of International/Rabbit Trail for about 1,080 feet to west of Brookview Avenue and the entrance to Phoenix Center II.
Preliminary plans call for most of the landscaped medians to be planted with native wildflowers and grasses that can grow from 1.5 to 3 feet tall. There also are areas where 3- to 5-foot-tall shrubs will be planted.
