But according to MnDOT, sticker shock is not an issue because the cost is going to be lower than estimated after six construction bids were submitted in March.
“Of those bids, McCrossan, from Maple Grove, got the low bid at $168.2 million,” said Kent Barnard from MnDOT. “That was substantially lower than our engineers estimate of $181 million.”
Now, there could be cost escalations or change orders while work is being done on highway 65, but the final total should come in lower than estimated.
“Ultimately it’s the taxpayers of Minnesota that will benefit from this bid coming in lower,” Barnard said. “I think the interesting thing too was the next highest bidder was less than a million dollars above McCrossan’s bid. That lets us know that we were right in the ballpark there with this.”
Thrive on 65
The lower than expected bids definitely had the folks at MnDOT smiling.
“We were very, very pleasantly surprised that the bids came in as low as they did,” Barnard said. “I think that’s a good omen for the next five construction seasons.”
The countdown is on for this major project that MnDOT has dubbed, “Thrive on 65.”
“We are looking at starting construction on June 1st and that construction will be completed in the year 2030,” Barnard said.
There are public open houses coming up that focus on highway 65 road construction. Those are May 20th and 21st. Check the MnDOT website for info on those events.
