HOPE – For the first time, Hope will have a continuous east-west sidewalk running the entire length of the community.
By a unanimous vote, the Hope Town Council has approved a bid from Comstock Concrete Construction, LLP to complete the sidewalk on the north side of Washington Street. When finished, the sidewalk will run from the town square to Norman Park, just east of Aiken Street. Comstock, which is headquartered in Hope, had the lowest bid at $37,250.
The first segment of the two-part project was completed last year when a new section of sidewalk was installed from the town square to an alley between Market and Walnut streets, town manager Jason Eckart said. Last year’s work on the north side of Washington Street included the replacement of a deteriorating brick walkway, he said.
J.B. Concrete Finishing and Excavating of Elizabethtown did the work last year for $26,000. However, that same company’s bid to complete the project totaled $52,000 – considerably higher than the proposals from two other contractors.
Comstock officials said their crews want to begin work on the sidewalk extension this month with a completion date around July 4, Eckart said.
Although the council voted to hire Comstock, they added a stipulation that the company’s work must meet specific quality standards. For example, the concrete must be 4-inches thick and 5-inches wide, with an additional inch of thickness added when placed in an alleyway, the town manager said.
Besides the sidewalk itself, Comstock agreed to install curbing and plates that meet the standards set by the Americans With Disabilities Act, Eckart said.
In addition to the concrete work, the northeast Bartholomew County community will pay about $2,000 to remove two trees along the route that have already caused concrete damage, the town manager said.
Currently, the town of 2,100 residents has about $40,000 budgeted for sidewalks this year. But the completion of the Washington Street project also qualifies to receive federal funds from the American Recovery Plan. There appeared to be a consensus among the five council members that those federal funds be utilized to ensure adequate money is available for other sidewalk projects.
Eckart says his goal is to eventually place sidewalks along both Jackson and Seminary streets.
“But we need to finish Washington Street first,” the town manager said.
