Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
SALEM – Bids were opened Tuesday at Salem City Hall from four companies to construct Phase 1A of the Monon South Trail.
Phase 1A will complete about 20 miles of trail at seven locations.
MAC Construction from Louisville, Kentucky, submitted the lowest bid at $15,347,000.
Other bids that were received: Temple & Temple of Salem, $18,844,557; E&B Paving of Clarksville, $24,675,300; and Louisville Paving Co., Louisville; $29,565,000.
The engineer’s estimate for Phase 1A was $19,761,200.
Phase 1A includes several multi-use rails-to-trails segments throughout the four counties. The communities in Phase 1A include Borden, New Pekin, Salem, Saltillo, Campbellsburg, Orleans and Mitchell.
When completed, the trail will cover approximately 62 miles from Mitchell to New Albany. The multi-use path will be constructed on existing railroad ballast within the railbanked right-of-way owned by Radius Indiana.
Members of Southern Indiana Trailways accepted the bids and will review them with Clark Dietz, the engineering firm that is overseeing the trail’s design and construction.
Southern Indiana Trailways will meet Friday and consider the recommendations of Clark Dietz. On June 12, the Radius Indiana board will hear the recommendations of Clark Dietz and vote on awarding the contract.
Jeff Quyle, CEO and president of Radius Indiana, said companies will be notified by the end of next week.
“We very much want to see construction start this summer,” Quyle said.
Phase 1B will be a separate project to construct trailheads at locations along the trail and is not included in this contract.
Construction of the Monon South Trail is part of Indiana’s Next Level Trails grant fund, which is administered by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. The trail will be a mix of asphalt, concrete and compacted aggregate surfaces. The work includes linear grading, signage, pavement markings, railings and other trail amenities.