Main Canyon Road design advances; City Park Trail bids come in far below estimate

The Wallsburg Town Council received updates on two town projects: design progress for Main Canyon Road and a low bid and expected quick completion on the City Park Trail.

Troy Ossler provided the Main Canyon Road update: design work is underway, an archaeologist will inspect a historic irrigation ditch next week as part of the environmental review, and the project is scheduled for public solicitation this year with a goal to have it bid before year-end.

On the City Park Trail, the town received seven bids; the low bidder was substantially below the engineer’s estimate. Council members said the low bid came in at 58% of the estimate and that the three lowest bidders were within about $7,000 of each other. The town expects a notice to proceed within about 10 days and a contractor-completed schedule of roughly 25 working days once construction begins, with a project completion deadline tied to October 31 for seasonal asphalt work.

Council members discussed bringing some features back into the project scope that were removed during budgeting, such as benches and trees. Troy said the town has roughly $50,000 available to restore certain amenities and will coordinate a preconstruction meeting to finalize those additions and contract details.

Council members also reported having negotiated additional funds from the Utah Department of Transportation during the application process and that there should be local contingency funds available to cover minor overruns. No formal contract award vote was required at the council meeting; staff said they expected the contract to be presented by the end of the month.