Jackson Free Press

JACKSON — Fondren's four-year-old sidewalk facelift proposal, which would bring the neighborhood in compliance with federal disabilities law, may take even longer because it was way over-budget.

Robert Lee, an engineer for Jackson's Department of Public Works, explained to the Jackson City Council that it could take months for the Mississippi Department of Transportation to approve recently updated plans. After meeting with the consultant for the project, Neel-Schaffer Inc., the public-works engineers and consultants trimmed the budget and resubmitted the plan to the State for approval.

"We are rejecting the bids we recently took on the project that came in well over-budget," Lee said. "We met with the consultant, and we are going to cut some of the higher-cost things out that are the niceties, and kind of boil the project down to the sidewalks, the streetscape and the necessary things to get it under-budget, and then submit those plans to MDOT for authorization to re-advertise the project."

The project includes upgrading the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for the sidewalks and pathways in the Fondren area and to make the neighborhood more bike- and pedestrian-friendly, as part of a four-year-old, $2.6 million federal grant of which the city had to match $500,000. The council approved a contract Tuesday night for Neel-Shaffer to oversee the project once the MDOT approval process is complete several months from now.

Council agenda documents list the contract cost for the oversight as "not to exceed $299,999.86." They also detail the contract split as 80-20 percent between the City and MDOT, with Jackson pitching in $59,999.97 to the State's $239,999.89.

Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes asked what the timeline would be now that the program has to backpedal and whether the changes necessitate more public hearings on the renovations.

"We hope to, within the next 30 to 45 days, to have the plans back to MDOT, and then there is a 30-day reviewing period. So we would be looking at probably advertising in January, February," Lee said, adding that the changes did not require public input again.

Lee added that one of the "niceties" being removed was "brick pavers," decorative brick sections in the road, along with logistical adjustments to the timeframe of the larger project.

"The bulk of the changes that we are looking at is some brick pavers in some of the intersections, and that was about $400,000 right there that we cut out," Lee said.

The changes in the phasing of the project, Lee explained, was critical in helping the project come in under budget in the future bidding processes.

"I think it will improve our prices across the board, on top of improving the production during the construction project, so (it would) make it a better project to bid on," Lee said.

Council Vice President and Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon said she was excited to get the project moving, as it has been in the works through several public-works directors.

"We've really worked to get it down so that it is economically possible," Barrett-Simon said of the pricing for the project, "and these plans have been running around here for some time now."

The council voted to approve the contract for the engineering consultant, Neel-Schaffer, for when MDOT approves the construction changes.

"So that once we rebid the construction project, that does have to be approved by council as a separate item. This will be for the project oversight by the consultant engineer," Lee said, adding that he had already met with the state agency about this contract. "MDOT has reviewed that, and they are OK with it, even with the changes made to the project."

Email city reporter Tim Summers Jr. at [email protected]. See more local news at jfp.ms/localnews.