The Town of Battleford has awarded the tender for a Highway 4 twinning project.
G & C Asphalt was the winning low bidder for the project and was unanimously awarded the tender at a special meeting held Monday afternoon at town hall in Battleford.
The special meeting was called to award the tender shortly after tenders closed the previous week.
Two bids camein before the 2 p.m. deadline June 22 for the Highway 4 connector roadways project running from Battle River Bridge to Highway 16.
The bids were opened and tabulated by representatives from AECOM at that time and the bid numbers were: G and C Asphalt, $7,488,426.70, and Whitford Construction $12,273,166.66.
The tender opening was witnessed by Mayor Chris Odishaw, Town Administrator Sheryl Ballendine and Councillor Derek Mahon. In the audience were representatives from the bidders on the contract.
AECOM officials then reviewed the bids and went over the numbers one last time to make sure they were correct and accurate. AECOM found there were no errors or omissions to the numbers presented and recommended awarding the Roadways - Contract B construction contract to G & C Asphalt of North Battleford.
The G & C bid came in substantially under budget. AECOM said the lower unit prices resulted in a substantially lower construction cost compared to their June 7 cost estimate of $9,642,405.00.
A special meeting was then set up for Monday afternoon, with Odishaw, Mahon, and councillors Garth Walls and Susan McLean-Tady all in attendance to unanimously approve the awarding of the contract.
Also at that special meeting, a resolution was carried with respect to Access Communications' proposed cable relocation as a result of the Highway 4 twinning.
Mayor Odishaw was happy to see a local bidder awarded the contract. Competing bidder Whitford Construction Ltd. is located in Shipman..
Odishaw said the town will now be able to grow to the west with the construction of the new twinned road.
"This tender and the Urban Connectors Program will now open up those opportunities," said the mayor. Already, he said, meetings with landowners are underway and he says there will be a lot of commercial growth coming to the west of the new highway.
"It is the single largest project in the town's history and will open up a lot of future growth," said Odishaw.
Odishaw confirmed the project is well under budget and well within the time frames set out. While it is undetermined when construction will actually begin, it is anticipated by the town that the majority of the work will be finished this year.
The mayor acknowledged there will be some growing pains associated with the construction over the next number of months, including more dust and more traffic tie-ups, but Odishaw said it amounts to "short term pain for long term gain."
