Catoosa County awards bid for road resurfacing

Catoosa County has awarded a bid for its 2019 resurfacing project that will overhaul three roads at a cost just under $2 million.

During the July 16 Board of Commissioner’s meeting, Public Works Projects Inspector Jeremy Bryson offered his department’s recommendation for the work following the recent bidding process.

“What we have before you today is the proposed award of our 2019 resurfacing project,” Bryson said. “It consists of three roads. It’s going to have a portion of Salem Valley Road from Highway 41 down to Rifle Range Road, all of Roach Hollow Road, and all of Nellie Head Road.”

Bryson said multiple bids came in for the work and explained that a portion of the project will be paid for with Local Maintenance Improvement Grant (LMIG) funds awarded by the Georgia Department of Transportation.

“Bids were opened on June 27, 2019, and we received four bids,” Bryson explained. “Each bid was evaluated and the lowest bidder who met the requirements of the bid criteria was C.W. Matthews in the amount of $1,986,236.75. The expenditures for this would be funded through the 2019 LMIG funds through the state of Georgia and 2014 SPLOST (special purpose, local option sales tax) funds.”

The board unanimously approved the bid award 5-0, and afterwards Commissioner Charlie Stephens inquired about the timetable for the project.

“They will have an August 1 start date and they’ll have to be finished by November 30,” Bryson said.

As for the breakdown of the project’s cost, the 2019 LMIG grant was in the amount of $745,347.77 and required at least a 30-percent match. The remaining county cost out of SPLOST will be $1,240,888.98.

Bryson says the project will cover 6.31 total miles between the three roads.

Last year the county completed a similar project in conjunction with its 2018 LMIG grant, which saw the resurfacing of Steward Road, Temperance Hall Road, and Talley Circle at a cost of $1.8 million.

Commissioner Jeff Long, who has dealt with plenty of road projects during his time as Fort Oglethorpe’s Public Works Director, said the project should add a lot of life to the roads.

“I’m glad to see we are putting the thermoplastic striping because it lasts a lot longer than pavement does,” Long said.