The oddly-shaped intersection of National Avenue and Division Street is in for improvements, though the cost of the project prompted debate and additional considerations for the Springfield City Council.
On June 24, the City Council voted 8-1 with Councilmember Derek Lee dissenting to accept a $2.6 million bid from Hartman and Company for the project.
The City of Springfield, City Utilities and BNSF Railway all have a piece of the project, which includes new flashing light signals and a railroad crossing gate in the right turn lane from eastbound Division to southbound National, ADA improvements, new pavement and a multi-use path, dedicated right turn lanes with “splitter islands” and utility infrastructure improvements.
Additionally, the city will also remove the diagonal traffic lights that span the intersection and place signal poles at each corner.
“This adds a safety benefit for drivers because it moves the signals to where they're used to seeing a signal, but it also is a safety improvement for our public works staff who work on that signal and maintain it because it takes them out of the center of the intersection,” Paula Brookshire, a transportation engineer with the City of Springfield, said at the June 10 City Council meeting.
Engineer explains difference in cost estimate, bids
The Springfield Department of Public Works anticipates the contractor to begin work on the project in July or August, and complete the improvements by early 2025, according to Brookshire. Traffic is expected to be limited to one lane in each direction for most of the project, though work on the railroad crossing will require the near-full closure of the intersection for more than a month in the fall.
The city received two bids on the project, both of which were considerably higher than the engineer’s estimate of $1,904,427. Hartman and Company’s bid of $2,629,522 was well below a $3,640,332 bid from Radmacher Brothers Excavating.
The project is being funded with $750,000 marked for highway and rail crossing improvements from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, a $411,568 reimbursement from City Utilities and $1,467,954 from local sales tax revenues.
Brookshire said Springfield Public Works employees examined the difference between their estimate and the bids prior to bringing the project to the City Council.
Brookshire attributed the discrepancy to inflation, and warned that rebidding the project could return even higher bids. She said that the method and trends historically used to estimate the cost of projects no longer works, and that city staff is “taking a new look” at how they calculate estimates moving forward.
“In addition, we wanted to consider that the whole goal of this project was to make improvements along with the railroad so that we could get the true benefit of the improvements that the railroad is making and that the intersection is making at the same time,” Brookshire said. “Once some of those are done, if the railroad did their improvements without the roadway improvements, we lose the opportunity to make some of those geometric changes.”
Mayor, council member debate high bid
At the June 24 meeting, Councilmember Lee renewed his request for the number of projects the city has rebid in recent years compared to the number of projects rebid by the Missouri Department of Transportation.
“What I assume — because I have no other information — is that we do have a policy to accept bids, regardless of how high they come in,” Lee said.
Mayor Ken McClure anecdotally alluded to instances in which the city has rebid projects, including the rehabilitation of the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge. The City Council also approved a $10.8 million bid for the project on Monday night, nearly $2 million more than the engineers' estimate and double the lowest bid received in 2021. The 2021 bid amount also exceeded engineers' estimates.
“I know I look at the engineers' estimate. When it’s over, I ask why it is,” McClure said. “I think we had a good explanation two weeks ago. If you want to rebid (the intersection project), you’re free to make a motion to do that.”
Though he voted in favor of awarding the bid for the footbridge renovation, Lee pointed to the cost discrepancies of both projects, totaling about $2.75 million.
“I think at some point, if we’re going to oversee — and the money means something — we’ve got to provide some kind of direction,” Lee said. “Because it’s not a small amount.”
McClure suggested City Council members further deliberate the differences between bids and estimates in committee.
Lee said he would be willing to take the matter to committee, but stressed that he wants more information on how often the city rebids projects.
“If we’re going to protect taxpayer dollars, I think we need to look at this more,” Lee said.
Lee added that he does not have any issues with the plans for the intersection improvements at National and Division.
Zone 1 Councilmember Monica Horton said there is an “expectation” for the city government to upgrade infrastructure on the north side, calling the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge rehabilitation and National and Division improvements “worthy projects.”
