Erie City Council rejects Kahkwa Bridge price tag. How that might impact construction

Construction of the Kahkwa Bridge over Ravine Drive on Erie's west side — which city officials had hoped would begin in June — has hit a roadblock.

Erie City Council on Wednesday rejected a $2.4 million construction contract with Chivers Construction Co. of Fairview for the bridge work. The contract amount is roughly $700,000 higher than the city’s previous $1.7 million estimate.

Council’s vote was 6-1 against approving the contract, with Councilman Mel Witherspoon the only “yes” vote.

City officials said Chivers bid was the lowest received by the city. Bids were opened on April 22.

Vote may force restart

Renee Lamis, Mayor Joe Schember's chief of staff, said city officials are "going to have to regroup" and determine next steps, including whether the project needs to be rebid.

Lamis said the city's intention is "to follow through on what we started" and build the bridge.

"We have been committed to building the bridge, or else we wouldn’t have spent more than $500,000 in engineering and final design fees," Lamis said. "We had several public meetings on the project. We’ve been through a years-long process where we did surveys and got public input."

The bridge was to be funded by $1.75 million in money the Erie County Metropolitan Planning Organization allocates. The MPO is the public body that allocates funding for transportation projects countywide.

That MPO funding, which City Council previously allocated/approved, is generated via an additional $5 fee Erie County motorists started paying in 2018 to register their vehicles.

MPO funding was also used for design costs related to the new Kahkwa Bridge and demolition of the former bridge.

Paving money a concern

For Wednesday's meeting, Schember's administration had also requested that City Council approve a first-reading ordinance that sought to allocate $983,681 from the city's Liquid Fuels Fund budget to be used for bridge project as well as street paving.

That money is generated by the state's liquid fuels tax, and is distributed annually to municipalities.

Council amended that ordinance, however, so that all of the $983,681 must be used for street paving.

City Councilman Chuck Nelson said Schember's administration wanted roughly $700,000 from liquid fuels money for the bridge construction, an amount that is nearly equal to the difference between the original $1.7 million bridge cost estimate and the $2.4 million Chivers construction bid.

Further, Nelson said, councilmembers had concerns about allocating any liquid fuels money to the bridge project, because that could limit or eliminate street paving in some areas of the city this summer.

City Council President Jasmine Flores added that she was never a supporter of the bridge project, and she voted against the construction contract on Wednesday "because that bridge was not (in) a high traffic area of the city."

Flores added that the increased cost of the bridge project, reflected in the Chivers bid, also impacted her vote.

Bridge details

The city demolished the original 101-year-old bridge in October 2021 over concerns about its crumbling condition, including crumbling and falling concrete.

The multi-girder design was selected as the best option by 54% of residents living in the neighborhoods near the Kahkwa Bridge, which was 57.1 feet long and 27.6 feet wide and connected two sections of Kahkwa Boulevard as it goes over Ravine Drive.

That is the only route to the Erie Yacht Club and Ferncliff, a group of bayfront houses east of the club.

The multi-girder design features enhanced space for bicycles and wide sidewalks along the bridge because citizens said they wanted that, according to city officials.

The city plans to build the bridge in two stages to assist traffic control and minimize impact on Ferncliff residents and those who use the Erie Yacht Club.

The bridge demolition project was to include the construction of an access road through one of the wooded ravines that line Ravine Drive.

But Erie Mayor Joe Schember in spring 2021 backed off that plan after neighbors complained about how the road would destroy trees and wildlife habitat.

Contact Kevin Flowers at kflowers@timesnews.com. Follow him on X at @ETNflowers.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie City Council rejects $2.4M Kahkwa Bridge construction contract