Bids on first major phase of Collins Road widening slated for October; start of construction set for 2010

The city will seeks bids next month on the first major phase of construction work that one day is intended to turn Collins Road NE to six lanes from First Avenue East to Center Point Road NE.

Last night, the City Council set a public hearing for Oct. 14 as a required prelude to a bid opening slated for Oct. 20 on the project's first major phase, an estimated $7.58-million job that is expected to start construction next spring.

The first major phase of the Collins Road widening project will improve First Avenue East from 40th Street NE through the Collins Road intersection to Tama Street NE, adding turn lanes at various spots and sidewalks on each side of First Avenue. As part of the project, the intersection of Collins and First Avenue will be enhanced to have two left turn lanes in all directions.

The first phase also will add a third through lane in each direction to Collins Road from the entrance to the Slumberland store east of First Avenue East to Twixt Town Road NE to the west of First Avenue East.

Construction on the first phase is slated for completion in 2011, Rob Davis, the city's engineering manager, said on Wednesday.

Preliminary design work, Davis noted, already is under way on the project's second phase, which will take the Collins Road widening west to about E Avenue NE.

It could take 10 years to complete the project to Center Point Road NE, he added.

For the project's first major phase, most of the funds are federal funds. Included is $3.85 million in federal funds that Davis said are part of the recent federal stimulus package for infrastructure projects.