Work will begin Monday on Neste Trail culvert project

Crews will begin working Monday on a project to install a box culvert under Highway 52 near its intersection with Highway 9 in Decorah.  The project is part of the work to build a link between the Trout Run Trail in Decorah and the Prairie Farmer Trail from Calmar to Cresco.

The low bid on the project was just above $500,000, but two change orders have already been submitted for the project.  The first will cost an additional $16,000 to meet a requirement for a wider ramp area leading into the construction area.  City and county officials were able to save some money by ordering sand crash barrels instead of a more expensive option, but then they learned the sand barrels required a wider slow down lane, pushing the cost back up, but still slightly lower than if the more expensive barriers had been used.

But a second change order was more upsetting to city and county officials—they were told that three signs to be put up during construction had to meet higher specifications that the ones required in the construction bid requirements.  As a result, the cost of the three signs will be $1,300 higher than expected.  That led more than one official to describe the change order as "highway robbery."