Staff recommends the City Council award a contract for W.O. 19-15 24th Street West and Central Avenue Traffic Signal, Turn Lane, and Pedestrian Improvements to Elcon Corporation in the amount of $649,615.30.

W.O. 19-15:  24th Street West and Central Avenue Traffic Signal, Turn Lane, and Pedestrian Improvements is a project to widen the west side of 24th Street West on the north side of Central Avenue by constructing a right-turn-only lane addition to 24th Street West.  The new turn lane is being added to improve southbound traffic efficiency on 24th Street West and allows southbound traffic to turn right on to Central Avenue more easily.  The improvement will reduce cut-through traffic from 24th Street West to Central Avenue through the commercial development located at the northwest corner of the intersection.  The project will replace all four traffic signal poles (two are damaged) and improve the turning radius of the southeast corner of the intersection.  Additionally, this project will upgrade the signal controller, cabinet, detection, and conduit to allow signal coordination between adjacent traffic signals and promote improved traffic operation.  As part of the traffic signal upgrade, the new signal heads will allow more efficient traffic flow and flexible intersection timing operation.  The City previously acquired the right-of-way necessary for these improvements in 2021.  In summary, the project provides safety and ADA upgrades to the intersection, replaces damaged signal poles, and increases the level of service at the intersection. The contract was advertised on December 3, 10, and 17, 2021, in The Yellowstone County News and on the City's website. Staff opened bids on December 21, 2021.  Three (3) bids were received and Elcon Corporation submitted the lowest responsible bid.

City Council may:

• Award W.O. 19-15 24th Street West and Central Avenue Traffic Signal, Turn Lane, and Pedestrian Improvements, to Elcon Corporation in the amount of $649,615.30; or,
• Do not award a contract and reject all bids. If the contract is not awarded, there will not be safety upgrades to the intersection, damaged signal poles will not be replaced, and the level of service at the intersection for south bound traffic on 24th Street West will continue to degrade.

The following bids were received:
 

Contractor	Bid
Elcon Corporation	$649,615.30
Montana Lines	$688,799.75
Knife River	$759,916.00

The project was budgeted in the amount of $267,000 in FY22 using Arterial funds.  The remaining $382,615 will be funded with budget from the annual signal improvement project, also utilizing Arterial Funds.  Engineering has identified this intersection as a high priority for the traffic signal funds and there is sufficient budget remaining in the annual signal project for this award.