City officials approved a change order for the Lowell Road project to pay for some additional signage in preparation for a closure later this summer.
The Columbus Board of Public Works on Tuesday approved the seventh change order on the project, which has seen improvements from Country Road 325W to U.S. 31.
The $7,859 increase is to pay for detour and “road construction ahead” signs that Milestone Contractors needs before completing part of the county’s portion of the project that otherwise wouldn’ve have been completed until 2027, according to city engineering.
The board of works in April approved a change order increasing the project by $213,657.19 for about 200 feet of work on Lowell Road at County Road 200W, up to the I-65 overpass. It will involve the addition of a shared use path, some widening and curb and gutter, City Engineer Andrew Beckort said.
“We’re going to get it done this year as opposed to waiting til the county does their project in 2027,” Beckort told board of works members in April. “It just made sense to get everything done east of the overpass at this time.”
Beckort said the work will cause the road to close again for about two weeks sometime this summer, but it will be open before school starts.
The change order brings the project price up to $3.3 million. There have been $324,369 in approved change orders thus far, according to city documents.
Lowell Road project work between U.S. 31 and County Road 200W was completed in the fall after six months of construction.
Milestone Contractors work crews widened Lowell to three lanes, which includes a middle left turn lane, to accommodate an area surrounded by existing or future housing projects. Curbs and storm water infrastructure improvements were installed, along with Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramps.
Crews were also given the task of installing a 5-foot wide sidewalk on the north side of Lowell Road, as well as a 10-foot multi-use side path on the south side.
For a handful of months, much of the work centered on installing a roundabout at the junction of Lowell Road and County Road 200W.
