Public Works: ARDOT bridge bid will accelerate utility moves; city faces up-to-$1.6M relocation estimate

Public Works Director Isaac told the West Fork City Council that an upcoming ARDOT bridge replacement will require relocation of utilities and that the city needs to plan for substantial costs and scheduling impacts.

Isaac described a contractor proposal to move utilities associated with the bridge project and summarized preliminary numbers: "it's going to be a big big project" with an estimate of about $1.6 million to move all utilities. He said roughly $1.1 million of that estimate was described as the city’s portion and about $550,000 of the total was identified as potentially reimbursable through DOT arrangements, but staff emphasized those figures are preliminary and subject to refinement.

Isaac said the difficulty stems from existing utilities being located in a right-of-way ARDOT plans to change; when utilities are in the current right-of-way the city often pays to relocate them, whereas utilities moved out of the new right-of-way may be reimbursable under DOT rules. He also noted that some parts of the site are rock and will require jackhammering and heavy equipment, and that the city lacks capacity to do all the work in-house.

Council members and staff said they will seek more detailed cost breakdowns and consider whether the city can rebalance work to lower contractor costs. The mayor remarked the ARDOT bid timeline has accelerated; ARDOT plans to bid the bridge in 2026 and the city must determine how to fund and schedule utility moves well ahead of that date.

The council did not commit to a financing plan at the meeting; staff were asked to refine the estimate, collect comparable bids and report back with funding options.