Ridgeland prepping to pave County Line Road

RIDGELAND — City officials hope to have County Line Road paved from Wheatley Street to Old Canton Road in time for the holidays.

The project awaits Mississippi Department of Transportation approval, but Public Works Director Alan Hart said they received a low bid from AJ Construction earlier this month of $1,550,020.55. 

That low bid came in $724,822.95 below the city engineer’s estimate of $2,274,843.50 and more than $500,000 below the $2.1 million the city has budgeted for the project.

Hart said all bids submitted were competitive with a high bid coming from APAC Mississippi coming in at just over $1.7 million and a third bid from Dickerson & Bowen at just under $1.7 million.

“There will never be a cheaper time to do it,” Hart said.

The low bid from AJ Construction was unanimously approved by aldermen at their regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 20.

The project will tap into $1,840,000 in Federal Surface Transportation Block Grant money for up to 80 percent of the project’s construction cost. The rest will be an even split between the city of Ridgeland and the city of Jackson.

Hart said he’s hopeful that the project can be completed by Thanksgiving, in time for holiday shopping.