Wednesday, December 8, 2010
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Albany Herald
Photo by Laura Williams
ALBANY, Ga. -- The Albany City Commission gave its approval for Keep Albany-Dougherty County Beautiful to accept a state grant for $372,000 to pay for a portion of a gateway beautification project.
Although initially started in 2006, the project is just now going through the final approval process, Albany Engineering Director Bruce Maples said.
If erected, the 15-foot-tall, 30-foot-wide signs and all of their green accoutrements will be placed at the Liberty Express Interchange with Dawson Road; Sylvester Road and Clark Avenue; Newton Road at the airport and Slappey Boulevard at the Liberty Expressway Interchange.
While the DOT is offering the initial funding, current cost estimates are "significantly higher" than the amount of the grant, Maples said.
Those estimates suggest the cost to build the four signs as designed -- including landscaping, irrigation and lighting -- could top $900,000.
"We won't really know until we go to bid them out," Maples said. "And when we do, we'll have a base bid and then work in deductive alternatives that would help bring the cost back down into that $370,000 range."
Maples said if the city were to trim off some of the "fluff" to the project, such as the landscaping, and make the project instead be a sign, a light and some simple grass plants, the cost could likely fall within the $370,000 range.
The grant also requires a 20 percent match from the city.
The commission won't finalize the vote until its business meeting.
More like this story
- Officials vote to support gateway sign initiative ( April 27, 2011 )
- Officials: Broad Bridge bids likely to go out next summer ( June 30, 2010 )
- DOT planning work on dangerous interchange ( November 26, 2012 )
- Albany-Dougherty rakes in stimulus money for transportation ( November 10, 2009 )
- City-County rake in another $14.7 million ( November 10, 2009 )
