Boardman Lake Trail bid tops $4M

Apr. 11—TRAVERSE CITY — Work on the first phase of a project to loop the Boardman Lake Trail will resume shortly, and Traverse City commissioners will decide on a contract to build the second phase.

It could cost $4,062,774.53, more or less, to build the trail from Northwest Michigan College's University Center off Cass Road south to Medalie Park. That's the low bid from Elmer's Crane and Dozer, assuming city commissioners agree to some alternatives like swapping out yellow pine for ipe wood — that alone would lop $294,178.84 from the price.

Commissioners Ashlea Walter and Roger Putman agreed the cost is high, but neither were surprised given a surge in labor and material costs.

"I expected it to be a little over with construction costs being historically high and with all of the challenges of COVID related to supply chain issues, it doesn't surprise me that it came in over, and given the scope of the project," Walter said.

The project calls for a trail with two bridges across the Boardman River and a boardwalk across a cove on the Boardman Lake, maps show. The second phase also includes a sidewalk, overlook, stairs and fishing dock on the lake east of Lake Ridge Drive between Fifteenth and Sixteenth streets.

That'll connect to the first phase from Sixteenth Street to the University Center. Commissioners already approved a $2,043,142 contract to build the first phase in May 2020.

City Manager Marty Colburn said work on this stretch got started in 2020 but didn't wrap. Elmers Crane and Dozer is expected to start again soon.

Looping the trail that currently wraps around three-fourths of the lakeshore from Medalie Park north to Hull Park, along the north shore then south to Sixteenth Street, has been a longstanding goal. The city, Grand Traverse County, Garfield Township and Traverse Area Recreation and Transportation Trails all partnered to come up with the funding.

Brownfield plan reimbursements will cover more than $4 million for both phases, with TART Trails raising hundreds of thousands to match $750,000 in state Natural Resources Trust Fund and Land and Water Conservation Fund grants. Garfield Township agreed to pony up more than $1 million, including $800,000 for a maintenance trust fund.

Michigan Department of Transportation also granted $836,143 for the first phase, as previously reported.

Bids have consistently overshot engineers' estimates, with the latest leaving a $3,958,287 estimate for the second phase well behind. Elmers Crane and Dozer's original bid was $4,401,315.30.

Colburn said it'll be up to commissioners to decide on alternatives that would slash $338,540.77 from the price.

Those alternatives raised questions for both Putman and Walter. Both noted the choice of yellow pine comes with more maintenance than ipe wood.

Walter said she wanted to ask about the maintenance plan, including who's responsible for the upkeep costs.

Colburn is working with the Grand Traverse County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority on an administrative amendment to cover a $104,487.53 funding shortfall. He suggested in his memo to commissioners that they approve the contract contingent on that shortfall being covered by outside sources.

Putman, TART Trails' first executive director, said it's no surprise the trail is not only more expensive than originally estimated, but considerably more so than when the first sections of trail were built. Tabling the matter and waiting for more bids would likely result in even higher quotes, he said.

Walter said she sees commissioners as "shepherding" the work and vision of many to the end.

There's a need for more trails in the area as the pandemic spurred more people to get outside, Putman said. Concerning as the cost increases may be, it's too late to turn back now.

"The project's got to be completed, it would be like going to the moon and 100 miles from the moon to say, 'No, let's turn back and go the other way,'" he said. "We've gone too far on this project to let it die on the vine and to have people go on both sides of the lake to see a barrier saying, this is as far as you can go."

One proposed spur that would've linked the trail to the corner of South Airport and Cass roads is all but shelved. Colburn said MDOT allowed that segment to be dropped from the plans since Bay Area Transportation Authority will move its facilities from that corner to a new site on LaFranier Road.