Prior Lake's Duluth intersection project takes another step forward

Prior Lake American

Despite bids coming back higher than expected, a Prior Lake road project is moving forward in order to complete it ahead of a nearby Minnesota Department of Transportation project later in the year.

During a meeting on Tuesday, the Prior Lake City Council approved a bid from Northwest Asphalt for almost $2.09 million for the Duluth Avenue intersection improvement project — almost $417,000 more than the original estimate of $1.67 million.

Public Works Director and City Engineer Jason Wedel said most of the additional cost could be attributed to high steel costs, which made the installation of a traffic signal more expensive.

“I feel strongly that the price we got is the best price we’re going to get in 2019,” Wedel said during the meeting.

The Duluth Avenue intersection improvement project will consist of widening the intersection of Duluth Avenue and Highway 13 to include dedicated left-, through- and right-turn lanes in both directions. A median on Duluth and a mini-roundabout at Village Lake Drive would also be constructed.

City officials originally expected to complete the project last fall. The city received two bids in August 2018, the lower of which was almost $734,000 more than the estimate at $2.4 million.

“There was little interest in this project due to the amount of work most contractors already have for 2018 and they simply do not have the capacity to take on additional projects,” according to a council memo at the time.

The project was put out to bid again, and the city received six bids, all more than $2 million. Staff recommended approval of the bids based on the closeness in price and said it was the best time to solicit bids, according to a council memo.

Staff also hoped to complete the project before the Minnesota Department of Transportation starts its mill and overlay work on Highway 13 in 2019.

The department expects to reach that segment of Highway 13 by late June or early July, meaning the Duluth Avenue project would have to start in mid-April to have a substantial part of construction done before that segment would be closed.

“We’ve spent a considerable amount of time discussing this project not only as a council but a community,” Council member Zach Braid said. “Since we’re so far down the road and have to do this in concert with MnDOT, I think we have to absorb this.”

The city project has been on the docket since January 2015 but was later scrapped due to a high projected tax levy for property owners. In 2017, the council approved a resolution to move the project to 2019 in coordination with the state project on Highway 13.

The project is proposed to be funded with $163,000 from special assessments, $1.05 million from the tax levy, $869,000 from state aid and $710,000 from the Minnesota Department of Transportation.