Springdale Interchange Bids Low

City Will Stretch Bond Money Further

SPRINGDALE — The city will be able to stretch bond money further because construction bids for the Don Tyson Parkway interchange on Interstate 540 came in below expectation.

The low bid, from Emery Sapp & Sons, for $11.2 million, is $2 million lower than the engineers’ estimate.

By The Numbers

Tyson Interchange Bids

-Emery Sapp & Sons: $11,168,013

-Nabholz Construction: $11,659,048

-APAC: $11,835,948

-Engineers’ estimate: $13,231,854

All bids must still be checked for accuracy and completeness.

Source: City Of Springdale

Money to build the interchange will come from $42.7 million raised in a bond sale approved by voters in August. The bonds will be repaid by a 1 percent sales tax.

“The bids were great,” said Mayor Doug Sprouse. “This will help voters get their money’s worth.”

The numbers aren't official until Garver Engineering, which is designing the interchange, checks the bid to see all requirements are met and all calculations are correct, said Ron Petrie, senior project manager for Garver.

After the bids are reviewed, they will go to the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department for approval, then to the City Council, said Alan Pugh, city engineering director. Councilmen could give Sapp permission to begin construction in as little as a month, he said, but it could take 45 days to two months.

Sapp’s bid included the shortest work time for the project at 244 days. Those are work days, Pugh said. Figuring five work days per week, the construction could be done a little less than a year after work begins.

Sapp also is building Fayetteville's bridge in the Northwest Arkansas mall area, Petrie said. The bridge will connect northbound traffic on College Avenue to the Fullbright Expressway or the shopping district south of the mall.

Cost for the interchange includes engineering, right of way and moving utilities, said Patsy Christie, city planning director.

Officials don’t know all the costs for those elements, Sprouse said. Condemnation lawsuits were filed on some of the land, he said.

Any money saved will be used to increase the number of street projects built by bond money, said Sprouse.

Plans call for widening Tyson Parkway between 40th Street and Carley Road and extend it from Hylton Road to Habberton Road. Improvement to 56th Street and extending it to Elm Springs Road also are planned.

“When we get those bids, we’ll know better how far we can stretch our money,” Sprouse said.

The city also is getting $2.7 million in a federal Surface Transportation Program grant that will go to build the interchange. Northwest Arkansas just became eligible for this program as it crossed a population threshold and is classified an urban area, Sprouse said.

“We need to get our projects ready to bid while we still have a good bidding environment,” Sprouse said.

Dick Trammel, state highway commissioner, said the interchange will be good for Springdale and all of Northwest Arkansas.

“We’ll see more orange barrels soon,” Trammel said. “Orange barrels mean progress and jobs.”

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