Bids for Bell Street Construction to be Opened January 30

SAN ANGELO, TX — San Angelo City Council members discussed road construction and rehabilitation funding during their regular meeting Tuesday.

During an update on the Capital Improvement Plan, council members discussed several projects including Bell Street.  City staff said they are set to open bids for the Bell Street reconstruction project by the end of this month.  

City Councilman Harry Thomas said that construction on Bell Street should begin this summer and it is a three year project.  The plan is to overhaul Bell Street from River Drive to the Old Ballinger Highway.  

Council members also learned that MLK construction is 90 percent complete only lacking some sidewalk work and new signal lights.  

Following the information item, council members unanimously approved the publication of the intent to issue $16.7 million in Certificates of Obligation for the next phase of street improvements.  The $16.7 million will be repaid over 20 years and will not increase the property tax rate.  

The $16.7 million is not earmarked specifically for the Bell Street rehabilitation, but the Bell Street re-do was approved in the previous action taken by council two years ago. The Bell Street project was delayed first by legal wrangling over right-of-ways with adjacent property owners, then by a less-than-optimum RFP process, according to Councilman Harry Thomas. 

The City originally split Bell Street into three phases, but Thomas said the size and scope of the smaller bid requests wasn't enough to attract multiple construction companies to bid on the project. The City re-packaged the Bell Street project into one large RFP and was successful in attracting more companies to bid.

The City will open those bids Jan. 30. Until those bids are opened, there are no exact figures on what the Bell Street project will cost.

The council previously approved a ten year $80 million plan to rebuild the worst streets in San Angelo. Today's authorization to borrow $16.7 million is part of that 10-year plan already adopted two years ago by the city council.