Work expected to end in December

A contract has been signed by High Plains Enterprises of Martell for work on Sunrise Road northeast of Milford.

Seward County Commissioner Gene Gausman spoke to the Milford City Council at its Nov. 7 meeting about the project and why it is taking so long to get the road repaired.

“Sunrise Road has been a major concern ever since we had to close the road last summer,” Gausman said.

The road was barricaded when heavy rains caused a culvert to wash out and the side of the road to crumble in July.

A detour on Van Dorn Road still allows access to homes in that area and Sunrise Country Manor, but the detour adds seven minutes to the response time for fire and rescue personnel.

“Nobody was more aware of that than we commissioners were,” Gausman said.

There was more to the project than just repairing the surface, Gausman said, adding that “a project like that is overseen by the state to a certain extent.”

Gausman said the county had to conduct a hydrology study (analyzing water flow in the area) and an engineering study on the structure of the road.

It then drafted a 32-page contract for a construction company to do the work. Writing the contract took some time, he said.

So did obtaining right-of-way permissions from property owners along the road.

Then, the county decided to build a shoofly, or temporary road around the damaged part of Sunrise Road, that will allow traffic flow along the same route while the repair work is in progress.

That meant obtaining more temporary right-of-way permissions. After the proper paperwork was filed, the county went out for bids and was required to advertise the project for three weeks.

The commissioners opened and reviewed bids at their Oct. 17 meeting, and the bid was awarded to High Plains Enterprises of Martell on Oct. 24.

Gausman said the contract was signed by High Plains on Nov. 7, and the chairman of the Board of Commissioners, Roger Glawatz, was expected to sign it at the board’s Nov. 14 meeting.

The contract states that the shoofly must be completed within 30 days of the contract becoming final—by Dec. 14.

“That will take a lot of pressure off the whole situation,” Gausman said.

The entire project is expected to be completed by July 15.

Gausman said the county already owns a 72-inch steel box culvert that it will loan to High Plains Enterprises to use under the shoofly. It will be returned to the county when the project is complete.

Gausman estimated the total cost at $354,000.

“We have access to funds that will cover it,” he said.