ArDOT receives bid to resurface Hwy. 1 in FCity
Work also taking place on Hwy. 79
Highway 1 through Forrest City is scheduled to be resurfaced from one end of town to the other.
On Wednesday, the Arkansas Department of Transportation received one bid for the resurfacing of the highway through Forrest City, between the north and south entrances to the Highway 1 Bypass.
APAC-Tennessee Inc., of Jackson, Miss., submitted the lone bid of $7,655,331.50 for the project, on which bids had been sought at least four times.
ArDOT District 1 Engineer Cannon Callicott said highway officials will review the bid, which could take up to 30 days, before it could be awarded and contracts signed. If approved, the work would be done this year.
“It’s a big job and right through town. It will be a difficult one to construct with all of the businesses and intersections,” said Callicott. “It will likely be done this year if it is awarded.”
ArDOT opened three bids Wednesday for resurfacing some streets in Wheatley.
Delta Asphalt bid $296,357.98, Crisp Contractors Inc., bid $298,124.25 and M&T Paving and Construction bid $301,840. These bids will also be reviewed by ArDOT officials before a company is selected for the work.
Another highway project planned in the county is the resurfacing of Highway 79 from Hughes to Highway 70 in Crittenden County.
The project was awarded in January to APAC-Tennessee at a cost of $6.5 million.
According to Callicott, 16 miles of Highway 79 will be resurfaced, and the project is expected to be completed this year.
Highway work is also taking place in Monroe and Cross counties.
According to Callicott, work is being done on Highway 70 from the Prairie County line into Brinkley. The project was awarded in late 2020 with the work scheduled to begin in 2021, but the company that received the bid went out of business.
Delta Asphalt assumed that contract and work has resumed, according to Callicott.
The project will include “selected widening locations to
allow for guardrail installation at the bridges as well as milling and leveling to restore the correct roadway section,” he said.
In Cross County, phase two of a project on Highway 163 West is underway, which is a continuation of a county road improvement project to widen and pave the last section of the route between Highway 1B in Vanndale and Highway 163. The work is being done by Sugg Construction at a cost of nearly $3.5 million.