Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Truck Parking Initiative Odot topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
State to study designs for up to 23 truck-parking sites; $28.1 million in consultant contracts approved
Summary
The State Controlling Board on April 7 approved item 35, authorizing up to $28,100,000 in consultant contracts to prepare designs for truck-parking projects at as many as 23 sites around Ohio.
The State Controlling Board on April 7 approved item 35, authorizing up to $28,100,000 in consultant contracts to prepare preliminary development and detailed designs for truck-parking projects at as many as 23 sites around Ohio.
Chris Hughes, ODOT District 1 deputy director, told the board the $28.1 million figure represents the “sum total of the top end of 4 different regional consultant contracts” and that the work will produce layouts and more detailed cost estimates. Hughes said ODOT has screened an initial list of 83 potential locations down to 23 candidates and expects to select a smaller number for construction once cost and site constraints are assessed.
Hughes described the procurement approach: consultant engineering and design selections are required by law to use a qualifications-based selection process; the design consultants will be chosen on that basis. Construction work will follow the standard competitive bidding process, where contractors will bid the construction contracts and the lowest responsive bidder will be selected. On the question of rest-area access during construction, Hughes said it is the agency’s intention to keep rest areas open, although brief closures for tie-ins may be necessary on individual days.
Representative Sweeney called the initiative welcome and sought clarification about procurement and quality standards; Hughes explained the distinction between qualifications-based consultant selection for design and low-bid construction for the build phase. Senator Ingram asked why ODOT would not conduct a site-inspection-first approach; Hughes said the department already performed an internal evaluation that reduced 83 sites to 23 and that the consultant phase will eliminate sites that do not make economic sense given construction costs and geography.
The board approved the contracts. ODOT said actual spending is expected to be lower than the $28.1 million ceiling because the figure represents the upper bound across contract options and not the final build scope.
