Council approves $335,903 change order for Togo Parkway traffic control

Toquerville City Council on Feb. 19 approved Change Order No. 16, a $335,903.14 payment to JP Escalating for expanded traffic-control work on the Togo Parkway project.

The council approved the one-time change order after staff said extended construction, overlapping utility work and unforeseen ground conditions required additional temporary traffic-control measures. Darren, a city staff member who explained the work to the council, said the contractor “had to add more asphalt. They added a jersey barrier. They widened the, the the lanes there, put a double yellow stripe.”

Why it matters: the added measures were requested by the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) after the temporary plan on the south end extended beyond the originally approved timeframe. Council members raised questions about invoice timing and possible duplicated billing across multiple JP invoices; staff said some invoices appeared to be submitted months after the work and that several estimates overlap July–November 2024.

Council discussion focused on safety and accounting. Council members asked whether the invoices double-count traffic control costs and why large invoices were submitted roughly 90 days after the work. Staff said the traffic-control work was done after UDOT required a longer-term solution and that some change orders were submitted after the work was completed. The council noted that the city’s accounts-payable reviewer, Stanley, had signed the change order letter; council members asked Stanley and staff to verify the invoices and to seek adjustments if double billing is found.

The change order covers traffic-control measures on the south end of the project; staff said additional, separate traffic-control estimates exist for the north tie-in. Staff described the north-end work as a temporary configuration that will lower posted speeds, add asphalt to create an additional through lane and require its own traffic-control implementation and likely additional payment under the original bid package when the tie-in occurs.

Motion and outcome: a council member moved to approve the change order and the motion was seconded; the council took a roll-call vote and the motion carried. Staff will verify invoice dates and whether traffic-control costs appear in multiple invoices and work with JP on adjustments if appropriate.

Staff and agencies involved: JP Escalating (contractor), UDOT (oversight/approval of traffic-control plan) and Rocky Mountain Power (utility whose schedule overlapped the work) were identified during discussion. The city’s accounts-payable reviewer, Stanley, was referenced as the approving reviewer on the change-order letter.