City officials approved a bid to replace Roxie Road Bridge after additional grant funds were acquired for the project.
Bids were opened in June but were over budget, city manager Matt Winters said Monday, during a regular council meeting.
Ozark Foothills Regional Planning Commission has helped the city secure additional funds to cover the project in full, Winters shared.
“The bid was over what was projected, what was budgeted,” Winters said. “The project is fully funded now ... fully grant funded.”
The bid was awarded to Keith Simpson Contracting of Benton, at a cost of $658,100. Simpson was the lowest of three bids received for the project. Joe’s Bridge and Grading and Robertson Contractors, both of Poplar Bluff, also bid, at $696,200 and $682,100 respectively. The city was originally awarded approximately $613,000 for the project in a Community Block Development Grant.
In 2020, city officials discussed the “significant increase in traffic,” the bridge had seen since the opening of the second half of Shelby Road. The bridge has a weight limit of nine tons.
City officials have also said the bridge poses a danger with the possibility of increasing flooding as it “prohibits stormwater from flowing properly, creating upstream flooding.”
Roxy Road Bridge was identified by the city as early as a 2008 comprehensive plan as in poor condition and in need of repair.
Officials have previously estimated construction could take up to six months, once work begins.
The item was on the discussion and workshop agendas Monday.