Traverse City councilors will vote Monday to approve contracts for several city projects, including a $1.75 million water main project along Division Street, improvements to the Hannah Park overlook and safety improvements on West Front Street west of Madison Street, where several accidents involving drivers running off the road have occurred in recent years.

Division Street Water Main
Commissioners will consider approving a $1.75 million contract with FER-PAL Construction USA for what city Director of Municipal Utilities Art Krueger has called a “challenging water main project” along Division Street. A 12-inch-thick, 48-year-old cast iron water main “is damaged by corrosive soils, which is damaging the outside of the pipe,” Krueger said previously. The city had originally planned to replace the 3,400-foot-long damaged line with a horizontal drilling project, but bids for 2022 came in at $2.2 million – more than double the original engineering estimate of $1 million. “This section of water main is in the middle of a lot of wetlands, making pipe replacement challenging and more expensive,” Krueger said.

The city now plans to make the repairs using the cured-in-place pipe (CIPP) method, Krueger said. In this method, workers dig an access hole to the existing water main, clean and flush it, pull a liner into the pipe, and then cure that liner in place. Because FER-PAL Construction USA is the only CIPP water main installer in Michigan, city councilors agreed in June to negotiate a contract directly with the company rather than going through a request for proposal (RFP) process.

The city allocated $1.2 million for the project in the 2024-25 budget. The engineer’s construction cost estimate was recently updated to $1.354 million, and FER-PAL Construction USA’s bid was $1,597,993 – nearly $244,000 over the estimate. With a 10 percent reserve, the contract value is $1.75 million. Due to several factors – including the nearby wetlands, the urgent need to address corrosion of a key municipal water main, and the shorter time frame and cost savings of the CIPP approach compared to other water main replacement methods – Krueger recommends awarding the contract despite the higher-than-expected price. Another contract for construction management services – which actually went through an RFP process – is scheduled to be awarded to the lowest bidder from Hubbell, Roth & Clark for $74,300. The project will be funded from the city’s water fund.

Hannah Park Lookout
Commissioners will vote Monday on a nearly $185,000 contract with Walton Contracting for improvements to the Hannah Park overlook at the southwest corner of the Union Street Bridge. The overlook “provides a welcome respite for pedestrians along Union Street — and great views of the Boardman-Ottaway River — as well as stair access to the lower bluff of Hannah Park,” said Harry Burkholder, executive director of the TC Downtown Development Authority (DDA).

The existing overlook was damaged during the recent bridge reconstruction and the stairs down to the river are outdated. Because they cannot be repaired to ADA requirements and cannot be removed as they serve as a stabilizer for the hill, the city plans to cover the stairs with soil and native plants and build a new staircase near the Perry Hannah statue down to the river. Other planned improvements “include removal and salvage of walkways, selective demolition of fieldstone walls, adjustments to existing features and installation of new elements such as clay pavers, concrete walkways, fieldstone wall cladding, railings and wall reinforcements,” according to city officials. Bay Brief“These improvements aim to improve the infrastructure, safety, functionality and aesthetics of the viewpoint.”

The project will be funded by the DDA’s Old Town TIF ($105,000), the Brown Bridge Trust ($12,000) and the Capital Improvement Fund ($68,000). If approved, project work is expected to begin this month and be completed by late fall/early winter, according to the Bay Brief.

Security improvements on the Western Front
City officials hope to improve safety on a stretch of West Front Street west of Madison Street, which has seen several accidents in recent years involving cars going off the road.

The city hired Hubbell, Roth & Clark to analyze the corridor earlier this year. Their findings “recommended several improvements to this stretch of road that will improve safety for pedestrians, residents and motorists,” says City Manager Liz Vogel. The recommended improvements include additional curve warning signs, median signs, reflective directional signs, pavement markings and guardrails, according to a memo from the firm.

Next, the city needs to hire a consultant to help prepare the bidding documents for the improvements, Vogel said. She recommends continuing to work with Hubbell, Roth & Clark for design and construction management services, “because they are already familiar with the design and can quickly prepare the bidding documents so we can implement the improvements this construction season.”

The firm’s original contract was for $14,470.50, with a proposed addendum for additional design services of $20,655. With a built-in 10 percent reserve, the total cost of the contract is $37,191.