I-49 bid comes in under budget

The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development announced Friday that the winning bid for the next project to upgrade U.S. 90, the future I-49 South corridor, to interstate standards came in under the anticipated contract amount.
The winning bid of $57.1 million was submitted by James Construction Group of Baton Rouge and is less than the original DOTD anticipated contract amount of $75 million to $85 million, a department news release stated.
Three prospective design-builders submitted proposals for this project. The successful design-builder was determined by using a formula which was based on price and technical score.
The design-build project will widen U.S. 90 to six-lanes and potentially construct several miles of frontage roads and multiple overpasses along U.S. 90/I-49 South corridor from north of Ambassador Caffery Parkway to Albertsons Parkway in Lafayette Parish.
Because the engineering/construction team takes on the design responsibility under a design-build project, construction can begin much sooner than it would under the more typical design-bid-build project.
The department intends to have the contract awarded and executed by late January.