Mountain View County got a pleasant surprise when the tender for the Acme Road upgrade project came in $1 million lower than budgeted for, says CAO Tony Martens.
“We budgeted at $7.5 and the actual road building came in at $4.6 and by the time you add engineering and land purchase on it brings the project to roughly $1 million less than estimated,” said Martens. “That's a million dollars that we don't have to spend and that we can now use for something else. “We really believe that one of the reasons the project came in as cheap as it did is that the province, with its new budget, isn't giving that much work, so companies are keen to get the jobs.”
The project will cover the roadway from Highway 22 to Spreters Hill, located between range roads 30 and 31, with construction including base work and chip seal. Work is scheduled to get underway this week.
The project is expected to be completed by Oct. 31.
The county recently accepted the tender from Olds-based Richardson Brothers Ltd.
MVC has been pooling municipal sustainability initiative funds from the province for the past several years for the Acme Road project.
The $1 million realized because of the lower than expected tender will go into road project reserves and could be used for bridge and other projects in the municipality, he said.
MVC director of operations Michael MacLean said drivers should expect some delays along the Acme Road during the construction.
“On a project that size there will be delays,” said MacLean
