City Engineer Updates Public About Complete Streets Project

City Engineer Ed Roberge sent out the following email updating residents and the media about the Downtown Concord Complete Streets Project, including new designs. Here's the text of the email: 

Season’s greetings from the Engineering Services Division – we wish each of you and happy and safe holiday season.

Staff and the project design team has been quite busy over the past several months getting the Main Street project ready to rebid.  Since rejecting the first bid process in early September, we have been working closely with the previous bidder as well as those contractors that opted to not participate this past summer.  Plans, material specifications, bid documents, prosecution of work, and the overall project scope and schedule has been carefully reviewed. 

We have also been working closely with Downtown building owners and merchants on accessible building entrances.  The results of that effort is now included in the project plans – accessible building entrances to all but one business along Main Street within the project area.  This would not have been possible without the collaborative efforts between the City of Concord, the Federal Highway Administration (managers of the TIGER grant program), NH Department of Transportation, NH Division of Historical Resources, and the NH Disability Rights Center.  This unique project approach led by the City may just be the first successful implementation of business barrier-free access included as part of a public surface transportation project in this country.  Concord should be proud that our Main Street will be more complete than it has ever been!

As you may have read, the plans and documents were released to bid on November 22, 2013.  Project pre-bid conferences have been scheduled in December and January and we are excited to sit and review the project with prospective contractors.  Final bid proposals are due on January 24, 2014.  We expect that following bid review and qualification/reference checks we could enter into an agreement with the successful contractor by mid- to late-February.  This allows time for ordering of materials and signs and the development of a detailed schedule.  Look for a public informational meeting to be scheduled during the late February – early March timeframe. 

You may also be aware that staff and the project design team prepared plans and project specifications and released bids for the relocation of overhead utilities to underground locations from about Pleasant Street south to Thompson Street.  5 bids were received and staff met with the contractor that had the lowest bid.  Given limited time in the construction season – and the preference of the downtown community to not actively construct in the late holiday shopping season - it was determined to be in the best interest of the project to delay that work until spring 2014.  Early 2014 will bring a coordinated effort between the public infrastructure contractor and the public utilities to complete the overhead utility portion of the project concurrent with the Main Street streetscape improvement project.

So as we close out 2013, we get ourselves ready for an exciting transformation of Downtown Concord.  The Engineering team looks forward to working closely with each of you throughout the project duration.  Always feel free to reach out to me or the project team if you have any questions or concerns. 

Stay tuned and I will update you on the bidding process and any other project related information that might be helpful.