BY BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
Nearly two miles of street paving and well over two miles of new sidewalks are scheduled to be done in Decatur later this year as part of a major project spurred by both state and city money.
City officials are currently studying four bids for the near-$2 million effort, which involves the city’s one-time largest sidewalk work ever.
The project will be concentrated on the northwest quadrant of the city.

A grant of $1,456,125 has been awarded Decatur via the Indiana Department of Transportation’s Community Crossing program. The city adds a 25% match, or roughly $363,000, which has been budgeted for this year.
City Operations Manager Jeremy Gilbert told WZBD.com that milling and repaving streets will consist of 1.79 miles.
“Sidewalks and curb replacement will be along each of these streets but not every sidewalk will be replaced due to the fact that some have already been replaced from the (50-50) city sidewalk program,” Gilbert said. “If I would have to guess, the sidewalk replacement, including both sides of the street, will be in the neighborhood of 2 ½ miles of replacement.”
Four bids were opened at the board of works’ last meeting of the year, as follows:
Milestone Construction (3 Indiana locations), $1,868,347.69.
Brooks Construction (Fort Wayne) $1,876,217.00.
Wayne Asphalt (Fort Wayne), $1,918,627.40.
DC Construction Services (Pendleton), $1,499,410.72.
Due to the intricate nature of the bids, they were taken under advisement for study, with an expected awarding of a contract at the January 7 board meeting.
Board members, however, decided at that meeting to delay a decision until the next meeting, January 21. The bids are good for 60 days.
Board member Craig Coshow seemed to sum up the general feeling when he said, “It’s a pretty big chunk of money; I’m for looking into it further. It’s our job to do our due diligence.”
Here are the streets scheduled for milling (removing top layer) and repaving:
1) N. 3rd St. from Monroe St. to 5th St.
2) N. 4th St. from Monroe St. to Jackson St.
3) Jackson St. from 1st St. to 5th St.
4) Marshall St. from 5th St. to the dead end
5) Indiana St. from 5th St. to dead end
6) 7th St. from Nuttman Ave. to Dayton Ave.
7) Short St. from 5th St. to 7th St.
8) Jackson St. from 13th St. to 12th St.
9) Marshall St. from 1st St. to 5th St.