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Bids are in for the Market Street and Pennsylvania Avenue roundabout.
A bid opening was held Thursday and, according to PennDOT Press Officer Jill Harry, the "apparent low bidder" was HRI Inc., a Brookville firm, at $3,827,580.
The project is bid as one contract with the contractor then taking on the responsibility of lining up subcontractors as needed.
Harry said two bids were received for the project.
"It's not uncommon" for that few, she said. "Two to six is probably typical, somewhere in that range."
The contract isn't finalized yet as Harry said there is paperwork for the firm to complete that PennDOT only requires once an entity is the apparent low bidder.
Estimates for the cost of the project have varied significantly over the course of the project. The Times Observer reported in 2018 that estimated costs were proposed between $1 million and $2 million.
It's unclear what the final costs will be but PennDOT previously said it has spent over $1 million on the project which pushes the total cost toward $5 million.
"The costs have changed over time which is not unusual," Harry said, "especially when you consider some of the things that have happened the last two years," including COVID-19, supply issues and costs of fuel.
"We've noticed some of the numbers for all of our projects coming in a little higher than we anticipated," she said, but "still in the rate of inflation. This is reflective of that."
Construction is expected to commence around the end of May.
Harry said it takes about six weeks for the contractor to complete paperwork, line up subcontractors, get workers in place and order supplies. A pre-construction meeting will also be held to talk about the schedule and "make sure everyone is on the same page, that they're ready to move forward."
After that meeting, a start date will be set.
The project is again set to be before Warren City Council during this coming Monday's meeting as an item on the agenda available Friday states "PennDOT Roundabout Agreement."
That likely ties to the maintenance agreement issue which raised council's ire last month.
Harry said PennDOT officials would be participating in Monday's meeting.