Bids for Nisqualli $13M under budget

VICTORVILLE • It looks like it will cost $13 million less than projected to build the long awaited La Mesa/Nisqualli interchange, according to preliminary construction bids coming in this week.

That means Victorville will save an estimated $10 million on its portion of the project, Mayor Ryan McEachron said. It also means Victorville should be able to avoid having to dip into funds for other road projects in order to complete the bridge over Interstate 15.

San Bernardino Associated Governments, the regional transportation authority overseeing construction of the interchange, opened bids Tuesday afternoon. Early results peg Riverside Construction as the lowest bidder at $31.8 million.

The engineer's estimate for the project was roughly $45 million, or some 28 percent higher than Riverside’s bid.

“From what we’ve been seeing at SANBAG that’s no surprise,” McEachron said, with a hyper-competitive construction market driving prices down. “But until you get the bid in, it’s hard to know.”

SANBAG will be sending out a complete list of bidders and analyzing offers over the next few days, according to city staff, with plans to go to the Board of Directors to recommend awarding a construction contract Dec. 7.

For more about the La Mesa/Nisqualli interchange, read the full story in Thursday's Daily Press. Get complete stories every day with the "exactly as printed" Daily Press E-edition, only $5 per month! Click here to try it free for 7 days. To subscribe to the Daily Press in print or online, call (760) 241-7755, 1-800-553-2006 or click here.

Brooke Edwards Staggs may be reached at (760) 955-5358 or at bedwards@VVDailyPress.com.