Contractors submit bids to tear out Albion bridge

Project expected to be complete in summer

File photo by Tom Rivers – The Clarendon Street bridge in the village of Albion will be ripped out this year with that section of the street to be blocked off.

ALBION – Contractors have submitted bids for tearing out a village-owned bridge, a project that should start in March and be complete in the summer.

Village officials opened bids for the Clarendon Street bridge project on Wednesday and the prices ranged from a low of $442,640 from Keeler Construction of Albion to $1,130,089 from Frederico Construction & Demolition in Rochester.

Kevin Miller, project manager and an engineer from Bergmann Associates in Buffalo, is reviewing the bids and will make a recommendation to the Village Board, which could vote on the contractor on Feb. 28.

The village expected the project to cost about $700,000. Keeler’s bid is well under that. None of the other five bidders were under $700,000.

The village is paying 5 percent of the overall project costs, while the state pays 15 percent and the federal government 80 percent.

Besides removing the 50-year-old bridge, the highway embankments will be lowered and the street will be blocked off at a 90-degree angle at Crimson Drive. On the north side, it will also be blocked off with a turnaround spot near Childs Street.

The village was planning on replacing the bridge but the costs for the project exceeded estimates by about $600,000. The state and federal shares weren’t approved for the additional cost, which would have left the village footing the entire bill for the increase.

The Village Board deemed that too expensive and chose a different, less costly option of tearing out the bridge and blocking off the street near the railroad tracks.