Jackson awards contract for road project

The way is being paved for a road extension project in Jackson.

At its regular meeting last week, the Jackson Board of Aldermen awarded a $472,345 contract for the Old Orchard Road extension project.

Rodney Bollinger, Jackson public works director and project manager, said they accepted the lowest bid of five, which was from Jokerst Inc. of Ste. Genevieve, Mo.

Bollinger said the project will pave the existing gravel section of Old Orchard Road between the Buchheit store and Class Acts Gymnastics at the intersection with Bainbridge Road. The project also includes ditch work, road striping and sign placing, he said.

Bollinger said the board is in the process of filing the necessary paperwork such as contracts and performance bonds, after which it will hold a pre-construction meeting. He said he expects the construction to start in early April.

While he said he's not sure what type of delays traffic will face, he said it's likely there will be detours until the construction is completed.

"I believe there will be a detour route," Bollinger said, "but total closure may be a possibility."

After the road is paved, he said new street lights will be installed. Bollinger said the street is already lined with new electric poles set this year as part of a major electric line project, so now it will just be a matter of putting lights on them.

"It'll make the outer road a lot nicer here in the next couple months," Bollinger said.

The next phase of the Old Orchard Road project, he said, will extend from the existing road to Interstate 55 at East Main Street, creating an outer road to the interchange at Center Junction.

"I'm optimistic things will fall into place and we can get it done by end of the summer," he said.

Bollinger said there still be work to do, including finalizing plans and getting and awarding bids. He said the project should be complete by the end of the year at the latest.

cwest@semissourian.com

388-3654

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