Cottonwood Heights to bid Highland Drive reconstruction after pavement study raises cost to $2.9M

Public Works Director Matt Schiff presented the city’s capital-improvement status and told the council on July 7 that Highland Drive requires deeper reconstruction than a mill-and-overlay and that the estimated cost is approximately $2.9 million.

"The report came back that a simple mill and overlay is not going to solve the problem," Schiff said. He described a pavement-condition study involving bores that showed full-depth repair was needed to avoid returning in five years with the same problem. Schiff told the council that if the city proceeds this fiscal year the Highland Drive effort could consume most available capital: the city carried $6.4 million into the prior year, began the new fiscal year with about $2.4 million, and proceeding with Highland would leave about $350,000 for other capital work.

Schiff walked through completed and ongoing projects (Stephenson area reconstruction, Cardiff rebuild, neighborhood sidewalks and stormwater work) and federal-aid projects that are ready to move forward. He warned that delaying Highland could increase costs and push other projects out several years. Council members discussed funding trade-offs and asked about potential matches for federal projects; Schiff said timing is important and that bidding and withdrawing a bid is poor practice because of contractor costs.

After discussion, councilors signaled support for moving forward with bidding the Highland Drive reconstruction and asked Schiff to return with bid results and a refined plan. Schiff said he would proceed to bid with the understanding that the city intended to move forward and would report back with the outcome and updated costs.