New pedestrian-bike bridge over Highway 30 in Cedar Rapids approved

A new $2 million pedestrian/bike bridge on Edgewood Road SW over Highway 30 with connections to existing sidewalks in Cedar Rapids is slated for construction to start in August from the area of the General Mills plant north to 37th Avenue SW.

The bridge/sidewalk project, which will be complete in May 2015, will include an underpass beneath an exit ramp, an entrance ramp at Highway 30, and it will connect to existing sidewalks designed for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The project's south end by General Mills connects to a so-called 'shared-use” sidewalk that extends south to 60th Avenue SW, city officials said.

The City Council on Tuesday approved the project's construction contract for $2.014 million with Peterson Contractors Inc., Reinbeck, Iowa.

The cost of the project, which is not being funded by the city's local-option sales tax, is 14 percent above the project engineer's pre-bid estimate of $1.766 million.

A second bidder on the project, Iowa Bridge & Culvert LC of Washington, Iowa, submitted a bid of $2.059 million.

Also on Tuesday, the council approved a construction contract for a sales-tax-supported project at 19th Street SE, Bever Avenue SE and Garden Drive SE. This is a project in the city's 10-year Paving for Progress program

The $1.875 million contract with LL Pelling Co. of North Liberty is 31 percent higher than the pre-bid estimate of $1.428 million.

Doug Wilson, Public Works Department engineer, told the City Council on Tuesday that bids for three upcoming Paving for Progress projects - at Diagonal Drive SW, Glass Road NE and sections of Wiley Boulevard SW and Edgewood Road SW - will provide contractors overloaded this year with an option to start projects in 2015 in hopes of getting more bids and more competitive bids.

Council members Ralph Russell and Scott Olson asked how the city was going to get better bids, and Olson said the city should delay this year's 'quick-start” Paving for Progress projects if bids are significantly higher than project estimates.