The Cottonwood City Council approved a contractor for the reconstruction of Mingus Avenue for nearly $2.7 million at its July 6 meeting.
The project is one that has been in the works for some time, and will complete the reconstruction that began in November 2012, during which time the city repaved Mingus Avenue between State Route 89A and 8th Street.
The upcoming phase of the project will complete the section of Mingus Avenue from 8th Street to Main Street in hopes of improving the road for the over 6,000 cars that drive on it each day. Not only will the project replace what the city says is deteriorating pavement on Mingus Avenue, but it will also involve the addition of bike lanes, sidewalks, crosswalk improvements, bus bays and drainage, Public Works Manager David Hausaman said.
Sidewalks will be constructed at6 feet across all the way down the street, and all sidewalk ramps will be updated to meet ADA standards. The project will also include the installation of two Rectangular Rapid Flash Beacon crosswalks, or illuminated crosswalks, on the westside of 10th and 12th streets.
“Those will be illuminated to where a lot of children coming from the school, coming down the neighborhoods on 10th street, will be able to safely cross a busy intersection,” Hausaman said.
In addition, the city plans to add a bus bay on the south side of Mingus Avenue near 10th Street, just across the way from the one near the new Circle K, in an attempt to keep city buses off the road and prevent congestion of the intersection of Mingus and Main Street.
But the biggest part of the project by far will be creating better drainage on the street. Currently, there are many areas along the avenue that don’t have curbs, gutters and sidewalk drainage, sending excess water either onto private property or toward Main Street.
“There’s a low-water crossing on 11th street,” Hausaman said. “We’ll be taking out local drainage and actually installing 800 linear feet of 57-inch culvert all the way to Railroad Wash.”
There will be a 10-foot wide drainage channel built from 12th Street to 15th Street to take excess water from Mingus Avenue to a culvert under Main Street.
The city plans to issue a Notice to Proceed in August. It is expected to take around 120 days to complete the major construction, then it will have another 30 days to wrap up any finishing touches.
There will be closures along Mingus Avenue during the time of construction. The city will alert the public to any closures in advance.
At the July 6 meeting, the council approved Paveco Inc. as the contractor for the project after receiving four bids ranging from $2.7 million to $4.5 million. Hausaman said city staff recommended Pavecoto the council as it was the lowest responsible bidder that contacted them.
The final cost of the project, which came in at just over $2,690,600, is nearly $1.2 million more than what the city budgeted for the project in its 2015 Series Pledged Revenue Obligation Issue/General Fund Reserves. This year, the city allotted an additional $500,000 for the project from its capital funds.
Hausaman recommended the city fund the remaining approximately $690,600 it needs to pay for the project by taking it from the $4.9 million undesignated council reserves the city has budgeted.
City Manager Ron Corbin said the reason the final cost of the project was so much more than the city originally estimated is largely due to the recent increase in the cost of materials that was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is just the going price right now, unfortunately,” he said. “I believe prices are plateauing, but I don’t know that they’re going to start being reduced any time soon.”
The city has worked to cut costs by redesigning certain right of ways as well as working with utility companies such as APS to reduce costs as much as possible.
