Plymouth board approves $841,000 engineering contract for Oak Road sidewalks

The Board of Public Works & Safety on July 13 approved a professional engineering services agreement with USI Consultants to design the Oak Road sidewalk project.

City engineering staff presented the contract as approximately $841,000, with the city responsible for roughly 20 percent and INDOT covering the remaining 80 percent. Katie Ryker of USI Consultants told the board the work being approved is the design and engineering phase; construction would follow later, currently anticipated in fiscal year 2031.

Council members asked whether the sidewalks would run from Jefferson Street to U.S. 30 and whether both sides of the street would get improvements. City engineering staff said the design phase approved by the consulting contract will refine alignment and determine where single‑ or double‑side sidewalks and bike lanes are appropriate. “The purpose of this contract with USI is to do the actual design engineering,” Ryker said.

A motion to approve the consulting agreement was made and the board adopted the agreement by roll‑call vote. City staff said INDOT will submit a companion contract for the state’s portion after the city executes the consultant agreement.

The engineering contract covers survey, preliminary and final design, and other standard design deliverables; officials said later construction funding would likely come from follow‑on federal and state grants. The contract was described as federal‑aid funded (applied for through the federal aid process) and subject to INDOT project timelines.

Next steps described by staff include a kickoff meeting, field survey to establish limits and stakes for design, and then preparation of final contract documents for bid and future construction funding opportunities.