Bids for a large city road construction project came in about $150,000 lower than expected, pleasing city officials.
The City Council opened the eight bids for the South Street Hill reconstruction project Thursday.
“It was a very competitive bid,” said Accounts Commissioner Mark Seber.
The low bidder was James H. Maloy of Albany, at $2,056,000. The city has to award the project to the lowest bidder that meets the requirements, and the city engineers will review the bids to see if Maloy’s complies.
City officials expect to award the contract at a meeting Monday, Seber said.
The second-lowest bidder was Kubricky Construction of Glens Falls with $2,086,562. The other bids were from W.M. Schultz of Ballston Spa at $2.2 million, Jersen of Waterford at $2.3 million, Ketco of Albany at $2.4 million, Rifenburg Companies of Troy at $2.5 million, C.D. Perry & Sons of Troy at $2.6 million and Casale of Wynantskill at $3.7 million.
Motorists can expect to see South Street Hill shut down within the next couple of weeks, if all goes according to plan.
A detour will direct motorists onto Pruyn Hill Road and around Farm to Market Road. People going to Hudson View Cemetery will enter through St. Paul’s Cemetery.
The contractors will need to start work on the project soon, probably sometime after July 9, to get it finished before school starts.
The street leads to the Mechanicville city schools just over the city line in Halfmoon, so many buses use it.
“I think they’re going to start as quickly as possible,” Seber said.
The hill will be closed for the entire summer.
Children also walk and bicycle up and down the hill, and the rough, narrow sidewalk has been a concern to the public and officials for years.
The project has been in the works for five years.
It entails replacing drainage systems to reduce erosion, building up and widening the sidewalk on the north edge of the road overlooking Tallmadge Park and adding a railing to protect pedestrians.
There is no sidewalk on the south side of the street, where Hudson View Cemetery is.
Benches will be installed along the sidewalk for people to rest on their walk up the hill.
The state Department of Transportation will pay for most of the South Street Hill project. The city has to pay the entire cost up front, and then the state will reimburse the city for 95 percent.
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