MISSOULA — Work to complete the public right-of-way on George Elmer Drive near recent housing growth will begin this summer, and it will cost 30% more than it would have if completed with the rest of the infrastructure.
The City Council's Public Works and Mobility Committee on Wednesday approved a bid award of $308,000 for Phase 2 of the Mullan BUILD project on 350 feet of George Elmer Drive near the Mcnett Flats apartment project.
The city approved Mcnett Flats in 2021 as the first phase of the Mullan BUILD project was gearing up. The $13 million federal BUILD grant was intended to fund the construction of all infrastructure in the Mullan area, now known as the Sxwtpqyen planning area.
But the funding didn't go as far as the city and county had hoped, forcing officials to scale back that first phase. As a result, portions of the public infrastructure on George Elmer Drive was pushed into a future phase.
“The street was built with Mullan BUILD money in Phase 1. The grant was intended to construct all of the right-of-way infrastructure. But it didn't construct sidewalk and asphalt bike paths adjacent to Mcnett Flats because of a lack of funds to compete those improvements,” said Mark Todorovich, the city's surface project coordinator with Public Works.
To help address the funding shortage in the BUILD grant, the city adopted impact fees across the area to ensure future development funded some portion of the unfunded improvements.
Todorovich said the city met with the Mcnett Flats developer and asked them to complete the missing infrastructure on their own, offering to reimburse the developer for the costs. But that arrangement didn't work out, Todorovich said.
“The city wasn't able to come to agreement with the developer to install the sidewalk and bike path,” he said. “The city is completing the work to make the non-motorized infrastructure connections.”
Funding will come from Sxwtpqyen impact fees, Todorovich added.
The delay of just a few years has increased the cost of the project. The city received three bids, with the low bid of $308,000 submitted by Knife River. But while it was the low bid, it was more than $71,000 over the engineer's estimate, or roughly 30% more.
“These high bids reflect current economic trends and uncertainties,” Todorovich said. “But this will provide safe, convenient and accessible facilities for people to walk and bike. It will serve Mcnett Flats and other nearby subdivisions.”
Other portions of the Mullan BUILD project also went unfunded in Phase 1, including the full extension of George Elmer Drive to West Broadway and the realignment of Grant Creek.
Funding was recently secured for the latter through the American Rescue Plan Act. Work is slated to begin this spring to realign and restore the degraded creek. The final project will also include a new trail system and, eventually, George Elmer Drive will cross the creek to connect with West Broadway.
“I appreciate the city trying to negotiate or come to some agreement with the (Mcnett Flats) developer to install the infrastructure needed there,” said council member Mirtha Becerra. “The cost of this infrastructure going up every year is one good reason for the developer to perhaps come to an agreement to do this at the time of building. It would save some residents money.”
