(Okoboji)– A bid has been awarded on the reconstruction of Highway 71 through Arnolds Park and Okoboji.
Dakin Schultz, a transportation planner with the Iowa Department of Transportation’s Sioux City office tells KUOO news three firms submitted bids this time around, compared to only one at the original bid letting in April of this year. It was rejected after coming in well over estimates. He says the $19.6 million dollar bid that was recently awarded is from Cedar Valley Corporation of Waterloo, Iowa. Schultz says it was was much more in line with estimates…
“There was some changes that were made the contract and it gave a comfort level to the contractors around the state so we ended up with three bidders this time and certainly saw better pricing.”
Schultz says it paves the way for work to start as soon as the weather allows this coming spring…
“This contract will take four construction seasons at a minimum. And when I say construction season, construction seasons are different in the lakes area than it is other parts of the state. The contractor will not be doing work between Memorial Day and Labor Day, so you can anticipate seeing some construction once the weather turns good this coming spring, spring of 2023, so they would work up until Memorial Day, they would give the region the summer off, then they would come back after Labor Day and do the next phase.”
Schultz says the work this coming spring will consist of the reconstruction of some intersections…
“Including Okoboji Grove Road, Benit Drive, Lake Street, Dam, Ackley Street, Lakeshore, Sanborn, and Okoboji View we’re targeting for that first season. Some of the things you’ll see, one of the keys to this being a successful construction is not only the construction portion but it’s also working with the local entities…Okoboji, Arnolds Park and the Chamber to get the message out. We’re going to develop a website, we are going to talk to some of these local agencies about how we get the word out to make sure people understand where they can go and how to get around.”
The project also includes work on a retaining wall at the causeway, scheduled for the fall of 2023, new pavement, and the installation of stop lights at Lake Street, or the turn off to the Amusement Park, and Linden Drive in Arnolds Park.
