Deputy City Manager Dan Blankenship said University Avenue is highly traveled on a daily basis and especially on OSU game days and special events. He said there are probably only a handful of streets as important to the community.
Stillwater officials are unsure when the reconstruction of University Avenue will start.
The city, the design engineer and OSU are working together to schedule a bidding and construction schedule, said Theron Smith, deputy director and engineering manager of the Stillwater Department of Public Works.
The project originally was included in a 2001 transportation sales tax scope, according to City Council documents.
The original plan called for reconstruction from Ramsey to Knoblock streets but was extended to include Monroe Street when sales tax projects were reauthorized in April 2006.
The City Council voted to reject the first bid estimate of $4.7 million to attract more competitive bids, according to the Council’s March 17 minutes.
Although there would have been money available in the budget to finance the project for $4.7 million, Mayor Roger McMillian said the City Council decided to rebid the project because the proposed cost exceeded engineer’s estimates.
“Our hope is that this process will produce a lower overall project cost than the $4.7 million bid,” McMillian said.
Deputy City Manager Dan Blankenship said because University Avenue serves as primary access for the campus and many of the public events that occur there, the street is critical not only to area residents, business owners and the university, but also to visitors.
Smith said the city is excited about getting the project under way and will work to schedule bidding and construction to minimize traffic disruption while getting the best bid price.
The original schedule called for the reconstruction completion in September, according to city documents.
“The original schedule was very aggressive,” Smith said. “The Oklahoma Department of Transportation had awarded a lot of construction that same month, and most of the roadway construction contractors had a full plate.”
Smith said the tight schedule, combined with the competing Department of Transportation construction, factored heavily in the single bid price received.
Deputy City Manager Dan Blankenship said University Avenue is highly traveled on a daily basis and especially on OSU game days and special events.
“There are probably only a handful of streets as important to the community, and it should be in the best condition possible,” Blankenship said.
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