Board of Public Works approves $12.8 million Madison Avenue road diet; awards mowing and infrastructure amendments

On April 9 the Indianapolis Board of Public Works approved a $12,769,000 construction contract with Calumet Civil Contractors Inc. to redesign Madison Avenue between Pleasant Run Parkway and Ray Street, including a road diet and an interurban trail, and approved several other bid awards and contract amendments for mowing, intersection design and stormwater work.

The Madison Avenue contract (ST-32-100/128) is a construction award for a project that the engineering division described as a road diet of Madison Avenue and the addition of an interurban trail from Pleasant Run Parkway to Ray Street at Ely Campus. The board-recorded “not to exceed” amount is $12,769,000; the engineering division’s estimate for construction had been $18,164,114.49, making the low bid roughly 29.7% under the estimate. Substantial completion is scheduled for Nov. 1, 2026, with final completion on June 2, 2027.

Why it matters: The board and staff said the project is intended to advance traffic-calming and multimodal connections on Madison Avenue. The size of the award and the large gap between the engineer’s estimate and the low bid drew brief board discussion about market conditions and contractor availability.

Jason Wood, identified during discussion as the city’s construction administrator, said competitive bids were partly a market effect: “people are hungry for jobs and so if they have availability on their calendar, they’re putting in really competitive bids to win that work.”

Calumet Civil Contractors’ bid included a post-bid subcontractor and supplier participation plan. The Office of Minority and Women Business Development (OMWBD) reviewed the submittal and found the contractor had made a good-faith effort to meet the city’s owner goals (15% MBE, 8% WBE, 3% BBE, 1% DOBE); the post-bid submittal showed measured participation levels and the OMWBD determination was recorded in the staff report.

Votes at a glance

- Madison Avenue Road Diet (ST-32-100/128): Motion to approve award to Calumet Civil Contractors Inc., not to exceed $12,769,000 — approved; board recorded no opposition.

- Roadside median and city lot mowing services (RFB14DPW1622): Board authorized two-year agreements with Grama Lawn Care LLC, V. Feeney Incorporated, and DNF Services for mowing cycles across Marion County townships; total annual expenditures across the three agreements were estimated in staff remarks at approximately $1,000,000. The Office of Minority and Women Business Development waived subcontracting participation requirements and noted two vendors are city-certified MBE/WBE where applicable — approved; no opposition recorded.

- Post Road and Troy Avenue intersection improvements — Amendment No. 1 (ST-34-404) with American StructurePoint Inc.: $17,675 increase for additional design scope including a geophysical survey to locate burials adjacent to Post Road for inclusion in a cemetery development plan; no change to agreement expiration date — approved; no opposition recorded.

- 5 Points Road and Southport Road intersection improvements — Amendment No. 1 (ST-48-895) with Crossroads Engineers PC: $26,600 increase for additional design, right-of-way engineering and acquisition services on additional parcels; no change to agreement expiration date — approved; no opposition recorded.

- On-call stormwater design and inspection services — Amendment No. 5 (ENG-19-003) with Aegis BLN USA Inc. (formerly Beam Longuos & F LLC): updated rates, additional funding for CL-20-045 miscellaneous small culvert project (including Wicker Road and Southport Road culverts), and extension of the agreement expiration to Dec. 31, 2026 — approved; no opposition recorded.

Discussion and details

Mowing services: Brian Kavanaugh, general counsel for DPW, presented justification for RFB14DPW1622 and confirmed the recommended vendors: Grama Lawn Care (responsible and responsive for specified townships and cycles), V. Feeney Incorporated (city lot mowing and several roadside cycles), and DNF Services (median mowing cycles in specified townships). Staff described territory-based service assignments and cycle counts (examples included six cycles for some roadside mowing and 10 cycles for median mowing in listed townships). The OMWBD reviewed the bids and granted a waiver of subcontracting participation requirements “because, due to the nature of the services being provided, there are no subcontracting opportunities,” the staff report states.

Nilo Wampa, who identified himself as manager over roadside mowing operations, described field verification: “We have 15 field investigators that are assigned to DPW...the contractor reports daily what they've cut...it's then sent over to our inspection team, which is the field investigators. They go out and literally drive the roadside. They look to see what's cut, what's not cut. If it's acceptable, then it's passed. If it's rejected, then the contractor is sent back to address whatever the issue is.”

Post Road/Troy Avenue amendment: The board approved Amendment No. 1 to the professional services agreement with American StructurePoint Inc., a $17,675 increase (new not-to-exceed $416,025) to provide additional design work, including a geophysical survey to gather information on the location of burials adjacent to Post Road for inclusion in a cemetery development plan. When asked whether the work was related to a potential roundabout or right-of-way needs, Shannon Killian (Stormwater Administrator / engineering division staff sitting in for Chief Engineer John Bowen) said, “That would be my assumption. I'm guessing we're acquiring some right of way, and so we need to make sure that we are not also acquiring cemetery graves with that or if that we are we have a proper plan in place.”

5 Points Road and Southport Road amendment: The board approved Amendment No. 1 to the Crossroads Engineers PC agreement, increasing the contract by $26,600 (new not-to-exceed $391,789). Staff said the additional funding covers design work plus right-of-way engineering and acquisition services for additional parcels identified in the project area.

Stormwater on-call amendment: The board approved Amendment No. 5 to the on-call stormwater design and inspection services agreement with Aegis BLN USA Inc., authorizing updated consultant rates, additional funds for the CL-20-045 small culvert project (including Wicker Road and Southport Road culverts), and extending the agreement expiration to Dec. 31, 2026. Board members asked whether the Aegis name reflected an acquisition or merger; staff said it was a formal name change after a prior acquisition and that many familiar staff remain on local project teams.

Procedural items: The board adopted the agenda and approved the March minutes at the start of the meeting. The meeting was brief and adjourned after the listed items were approved.

What the record shows and limits: Staff reports and presenters provided project IDs, contractor names, contract or amendment amounts, scheduled completion dates for Madison Avenue, M/WBE participation statistics for the low bid on Madison Avenue (post-bid participation levels were shown to staff), and the approximate annual mowing expenditure reported by staff (~$1,000,000). Votes were recorded as motions, seconds and verbal “aye” responses with no recorded opposition for the actions described. The board did not direct additional follow-up or lay out new timelines beyond the contract completion dates and reporting already in project materials.