By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
A giant green light was flashing today for the Five Points Project in Decatur.
After accepting bids last week for the work which will convert Five Points into Decatur’s and Adams County’s first traffic roundabout, the Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) on Friday awarded a contract to E&B Paving.
Three contractors bid on the project with E&B’s bid of $2,493,109 the lowest of the three.
Fleming Excavating of Decatur bid $2,623,181 and 3D Company of Muncie bid $3,659,942.50.
The E&B bid was under the engineer’s estimate for the project, which means that Decatur’s share of the cost is under budget as well.
INDOT, through federal funding, will cover 80% of the total cost. Decatur’s 20% match will amount to $498,621.80 – which is less than the amount the city budgeted for its share.
City officials were quite pleased that the money they had budgeted for the 20% match was more than sufficient.
“This project has been in the works for over seven years,” Mayor Dan Rickord told WZBD.com. “I’m excited to see it come in under budget and under the engineer’s estimate.”
“We were told this is a very good bid and that we’d be crazy not to take it,” city Operations Manager Jeremy Gilbert said.
Gilbert said local officials will get together with INDOT and E&B representatives to work out a schedule for the project, but he expects that the now-closed Sunoco gas station on one of the Five Points corners will be taken down first to be certain nothing will be uncovered that might delay construction.
One of E&B’s locations is on S. Thomas Road.
The company was founded in 1967 in Muncie by Jack Euratte and Richard Bedwell.
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