WESTOVER — It looks as if the start of construction on Holland Avenue remains about three weeks away.
During an update to Westover City Council, project engineer Doug Smith explained contractor Blue Gold Development is set to begin work on March 24 barring any unforeseen delays.
The project will address the thoroughfare’s underlying issues by replacing approximately 2,800 feet of gravity sewer line and 3,000 feet of storm sewer line beneath the road’s surface. It will also include the rehabilitation of the Holland Avenue retaining wall.
Blue Gold Development LLC was awarded a $2,963,637 contract for the work on Sept. 3.
As part of the update, Smith said the preliminary numbers for a beautification project planned to be the cherry on top of the entire undertaking are coming in a bit higher than expected.
The pedestrian lighting upgrades would primarily consist of an internally illuminated handrail to be installed along the Holland Avenue sidewalk.
Back in July, Smith said his discussions with multiple contractors indicated the total lighting project would cost in the $210,000 range. That number included $60,000 in fees paid to Thrasher.
“We’re still trying to tie down a good price or reasonable price to bring to you for the handrails and the lighting on that,” he said Monday. “The most recent that the contractor has been able to come, the materials alone were $200,000, and so that is considerably higher than what we had talked about earlier.”
Smith noted the lighting project likely wouldn’t come until the very end of what’s expected to be at least a three-month construction window for the larger Holland Avenue project.
“Again, we’re not going to start right away. It’s probably something we do toward the end of the project anyway, but we’ve got him digging hard for those numbers as quickly as we can get them to you, so that you can budget those appropriately,” he said.
As for work on Holland Avenue’s sister project – the replacement of Wesover’s primarily lift station – Smith said construction appears to be on pace to begin around late May or early June.
Green River Group was awarded that contract for $2,958,025.
In addition to a new pump house, it will include the installation of 500 feet of sanitary sewer line and 500 feet of force main lines.
The station is the heart of the city’s sewer system, pumping flows from Westover beneath the Monongahela River to meet up with the Morgantown Utility Board system.
“I think they’ll probably start, is my guess, on the gravity and force main portion of it. They’re probably not going to actually start on the pump station at that time,” Smith said. “So, they’ve got some other stuff that they’ve got to do down there first.”
In other Westover news, council approved a $67,452 contract with Premier Landscaping for grass mowing at The Gateway and WestRidge developments.
