I-26 Connector bids return lower than original; NCDOT increases cost for Asheville section
ASHEVILLE - North Carolina Department of Transportation officials got closer to finding a final contractor for the sprawling I-26 Connector section, which is slated to run through Asheville. Would-be contractors second-round of bids for the project were announced during a May 7 livestream, indicating estimated contractor costs for the section have gone down.
Three contractor bids, including from Archer Wright JV, Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc and Flatiron United Blythe Joint Venture, were opened in February, where contractor estimated costs ran above the original estimate of the project.
Now, those three contractors have released adjusted estimates that bring their proposals closer to the new engineer estimate of $1.06 billion for the Asheville section.
The contractor with the lowest adjusted price will be awarded the I-26 Contract, said Stephanie Johnson, the spokesperson for the project. Currently, Archer-Wright JV has the lowest adjusted price at $846 million, but Johnson noted "all three bids are currently under review at this time."
"The adjusted price is used only for the purpose of determining the low bidder – it is not an actual adjustment to the bid," Johnson said, noting the bids are separated out by adjusted price and actual bid price.
The adjusted bid reflects a price based on a NCDOT engineer technical score grading the "quality of the proposal," Johnson said.
Here are the current, lowered bids for the north section. Both the adjusted and actual bids are from the May 7 livestream:
Archer-Wright JV
Adjusted bid: $846,088,541
Actual bid: $1,147,238,700
Technical score: 92.5
Balfour Beatty Infrastructure
Adjusted bid: $1,103,080,473
Actual bid: $1,337,067,240
Technical score: 85
Flatiron United Blythe Joint Venture
Adjusted bid: $1,267,704,735
Actual bid: $1,760,701,021
Technical score: 94
North section sees price increase of nearly $150 million
The bid letting process is for the design-build section of the project, also known as Section B, which runs from Haywood Road in West Asheville and crosses the French Broad to connect to U.S. 19/23/70 and U.S. 240.
This section also includes letting for Section D, which will provide improvements to Riverside Drive from Hill Street to Broadway Street, according to the NCDOT website.
Johnson said the most recent "engineer estimate" for the section being bid on is $1.06 billion. The price reflects a roughly $150 million increase to the total cost of the section, including Section B and Section D of I-26 Connector, which had been previously estimated at $915 million.
Each of the bids also set a completion date of 2031, according to the bid documents.
When the contract award is announced it will come with additional details on the project, Johnson said.
A May 2024 update in the State Transportation Improvement Program indicates the total funding required for the I-26 Connector project is estimated to be over $1.7 billion.
The Citizen Times reached out to each contracting company, but did not hear back before deadline.
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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: I-26 bids return lower than original; Asheville section cost increases
