NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Hutchinson Mayor Jon Richardson notes that the first phase of the Woodie Seat Freeway project had just one bidder and that is a concern, but he sees some reasons behind that.
"I think part of it is the environment we're in right now for construction," Richardson said. "Everyone, for the most part, is really busy. I think that has to weigh in on it."
Richardson did note that just because it is a single bidder does not mean the process isn't designed to be competitive.
"They also do not know until the bid letting comes out that they were the only bidder," Richardson said. "Up until that time, as you're bidding it, you're thinking, how competitive do I need to be to win this job? There's still a little bit of aspect on the cost control on that end, but it would be nicer to have three to five bids come in on projects like this."
Another issue is that cities are competing with counties and KDOT for the construction labor pool. That's one aspect where the shared bid between the county and the city for this may have helped.
"If there are state or federal infrastructure projects that could be gotten that have a lot of dollars going to it, we're competing against those projects for their capacity to do the job."
Hutchinson has received a combined Cost Share award of $1.5 million for Phase 1 of the Woodie Seat Freeway project.
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