Construction scheduled to begin for Route 132
Northwoods' bid was roughly $1.2 million lower than Pike's.
Bids were opened for the Route 132 paving project on May 11th, 2021, and reviewed by Stantec, the engineering firm hired for the project. Stantec estimates the probable cost of rebuilding fhe road from Tucker Hill Road to the Norwich town line, plus top coating, to be approximately $3,269,000.
Voters had approved a bond for "up to" $4 million in November, 2020. The bond amount was intentionally over-estimated to include a 10% contingency in case projects costs run higher than expected, and to absorb some of the unanticipated costs arising from the rebuild of Route 132 from Tucker Hill Road to the Strafford town line last summer, which was laregely funded by the Environmental Protection Agency. A 10% contingency is a normal budgeting practice in large capital improvement projects.
The Town received two bids for the project. The low bid was from Northwoods Excavating Inc. of Thetford, VT, for approximately $3,198,000, while the high bid was from Pike Industries, Inc. of Barre, VT, for approximately $4,409,000. The Selectboard, at Stantec's recommendation, awarded the project to Northwoods at their May 17th meeting.
The Town has announced an informational hearing for Thursday, June 3rd, at 7p.m. Town Manager Bryan Gazda indicated that the discussion will go over what can be expected during construction, anticipated traffic delays for commuters, a construction timeline, and points of contact.
Following a pre-construction meeting with Northwoods, Gazda reported that Northwoods will be starting construction on Monday, June 7th, 2021.