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Ridgeville 1800 South bike path design mostly finished; council pauses to resolve right-of-way funding gap
Summary
City engineers told the council the Ridgeville 1800 South bike-path project is about 85% designed but faces a roughly $47,600 shortfall driven largely by higher-than-estimated UDOT right-of-way costs; the council voted to table action to the next meeting for further review.
City staff told the Richfield City Council the Ridgeville 1800 South bike-path project is approximately 85% complete in design but faces a funding shortfall driven mainly by larger-than-expected right-of-way costs in the UDOT process.
“We’re about 85% finished with the design,” the project presenter said, noting $76,000 had been spent on design to date (including UDOT’s time). Staff told the council the initial right-of-way estimate was $56,000 but a shotgun estimate from UDOT later increased that figure to about $81,000. That change — plus contingency and other adjustments — left the city about $47,600 short of the budget the project currently needs for right-of-way acquisition and to proceed toward advertisement.
Devin (city staff) explained a major increase stemmed from how the city and UDOT classify “prescriptive use” (areas of property that UDOT typically would not compensate because of existing public utility or drainage use). Counsel recommended compensating a portion of that prescriptive area at a reduced value, and staff said they planned to pay property owners 30% of full value for the prescriptive portion. The staff estimate attributed roughly $15,000–$20,000 of increased cost to that change in valuation.
Staff also explained that one parcel behind Good Shepherd Lutheran Church that was omitted from earlier estimates had been added; golf-course frontage on several parcels pushed valuation higher for those holdings. Staff noted the environmental clearance (the categorical exclusion) had been approved in June and that UDOT’s right-of-way process typically requires six to eight months; if the council commits to cover the shortfall and the right-of-way work begins promptly, staff said the project could advertise in spring and construct in summer of the following year.
City staff recommended the council sign a letter committing to cover additional costs so UDOT could proceed. Council member Jared moved to approve the additional funding; another council member then moved to table further action until the council’s next scheduled meeting. The council set the next meeting date as Sept. 9 and the motion to table was entered; staff said if costs grew beyond a preset threshold the council would be asked to return for approval.
Council discussion included whether the city could reduce the offer to property owners for prescriptive areas (the attorney said the reduced offer could be defensible but recommended compensating owners some amount). Staff said they had included roughly $17,000 contingency above UDOT’s estimated right-of-way values and that the entire right-of-way estimate could still change when offers are formally made.
The council did not adopt a final funding commitment at the meeting; members voted to table the item to the council’s next meeting on Sept. 9 so staff could provide additional detail and, if necessary, pursue partners or alternate savings.
