Sturgis City Commission moves ahead with East Lafayette roundabout plans

A roundabout project near Sturgis Middle School is now back on track, after the work was delayed due to bidding concerns.

Sturgis City Commission on Wednesday voted to approve a bid, provided through Michigan Department of Transportation, for a roundabout at the intersection of East Lafayette Street near North Franks Avenue. The project was identified as needed due to ongoing safety concerns between vehicles and pedestrians.

Earlier report: North Franks Avenue extension plan moves forward

MDOT originally received bids for the roundabout project May 6, with the project anticipated to be completed over the summer. However, a low bid of $923,164 was received, nearly 62% above the engineer’s estimate for the project. Due to the high cost, the city rejected the bids, even with a $488,112 grant to offset costs.

Officials said it was not anticipated there would be a lack of competitive or reasonable bids, and preliminary work was started at the site to minimize construction time. After the low bid was rejected, the city had the intersection temporarily reconstructed. Staff rebid the project and moved the project construction start date to May 1. The change was intended to solicit more bids and better pricing by adjusting the project schedule.

On Aug. 5, MDOT received three new bids. The low bid was for $765,852 from Kamminga and Roodvoets Inc. of Grand Rapids. Still, the low bid is nearly 32%, or $184,850, above the engineer’s estimate of $581,000.

Sturgis city officials reported in its presentation to the commission that MDOT requires communities to either reject or accept bids that are 10% or higher above the engineer’s estimate before awarding the project and provide reasoning for accepting the project. City staff consulted with Heidi Spangler, a safety engineer who oversees the MDOT highway safety improvement grant program. She said she has seen multiple projects 20% to 30% above the project estimates.

Currently, city officials said, there isn’t time available to again rebid the project with additional modifications without the possibility of losing the $488,000 HSIP grant.

Bid items $8,500 or more above or below the estimated cost were listed. Two bid items make up nearly $125,000 of the added cost.

The commission also approved a 5% contingency budget for the project based on the roundabout construction award cost, a total of $38,300 and an off-site materials testing budget of $10,000. A task order for construction-phase engineering for the project will be brought to commission in the future but is estimated to cost $120,000.

Commissioner Brandon Kinsey and vice mayor Aaron Miller were unable to attend Wednesday's meeting.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Sturgis moves ahead with East Lafayette roundabout plans