It was supposed to happen more than two years ago and for some in the community the pessimism was justified. After all, the six-figure paving project planned for a large portion of Johnson Avenue was posted by the State of West Virginia twice.

 

On both occasions, the job never happened. The first time the paving project was scrapped was due to price increases related to new ADA requirements and handicapped accessibility mandated by the federal government. Last year, the project was scrapped due to a clerical error state officials admitted to.

 

This time, however, officials say everything is in order. In fact, according to an official with the West Virginia Division of Highways District 4 office in Bridgeport everything is in order for the project to begin once the weather warms next year.

 

“The project was let in mid-October,” said District 4 Construction Engineer Jason Nelson. “The low bidder was Dodd General Contractors.”

 

Dodd won the project with a bid of $253,025.62. Three other companies – J.F. Allen, Bear Contracting and Mountaineer Contractors – also bid on the project.

 

“The projects were in line with the estimate. They came in just a bit over estimate,” said Nelson.

 

The estimate, he said, was $252,000.

 

At that cost, the paving project will stretch 1.24 miles and cover milling and paving from the entrance area to Bridgeport Middle School all the way to Johnson Avenue’s intersection with State Street. State Street is just prior to City National Bank and Sheetz. The work includes sidewalk repairs.

 

The work on the sidewalks is what delayed the project from taking place last year after Bridgeport officials lobbied the DOH to include it on their paving list in late 2015. In 2016 it was initially set to take place but was delayed due to Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements that are now in place with projects that include milling and paving.

 

Due to the paving being an inch and the milling being an inch, the road work is officially considered construction. Projects beyond an inch or more immediately put the ADA rules into place, and this project will be more than an inch.

 

Last year, Nelson said the Department of Justice released a memo saying if a project was considered construction then it has to meet all ADA requirements. That mean that intersection ramps had to be modified, which initially raised the project from $130,000 to $500,000.

 

However, second reviews of many of the intersections showed compliance was already in place and multiple rights of way were already secured. Nelson said prior to the most recent letting of the project that it would likely be in the quarter of a million dollar range.

 

Nelson doesn’t anticipate the project beginning until next spring. There is a completion date of June 18.

 

“We haven’t talked with the contractor to go over the details, but I would assume they would start in April or May,” said Nelson.

 

For those wondering how it will impact school traffic, it shouldn’t. Nelson said in June the last preliminary plans he reviewed showed that there were to be no lane closures during any time that school is in session between the hours of 6:30 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. The only work that could take place during school hours in that time frame, said Nelson, is prep work or incidental work that should impact traffic flow.

 

“It’s still the same design,” said Nelson. “I would anticipate there will be evening work and if there is a holiday or school is closed for some reason they could work during those time periods.”