The city of Warrenton has awarded a contract to build a sidewalk on North Highway 47 to R.L. Persons Construction for $1.7 million. Construction is expected to begin this summer.

The Warrenton Board of Aldermen voted 6-0 during its May 4 public meeting to accept the bid from R.L. Persons, a company from Poplar Bluff. Crews will soon begin construction of a sidewalk from the North Service Road to Hickory Lick Road at the north end of Warrenton. Residents have long called for a sidewalk along that stretch of road to protect pedestrians walking to the commercial area around the junction of Highway 47 and Interstate 70.

The $1.7 million bid from R.L. Persons was the low bid from only two firms that offered to do the project. City leaders were unhappy to see that the bid was almost $250,000 more than what project engineers had estimated for the cost.

Part of the large expense for the project is significant groundwork and culvert installation that will underlie the sidewalk, along with the cost of the paving itself. However, Warrenton Director of Operations Jon Struckhoff commented that the sidewalk project as a whole, from engineering to legal work to construction, will still be under budget.

“We saved money on the acquisition of properties – the easement acquisition — and a couple other things on the front half,” Struckhoff explained. 

The city recently finished acquiring the easements necessary to build the sidewalk without using eminent domain, eliminating the cost of legal proceedings that had been factored into the project budget.

The sidewalk construction is a joint project with the Missouri Department of Transportation, which is paying for half the cost. Once built, MoDOT will be responsible for replacing the sidewalk if it ever expands Highway 47, city officials said.

Struckhoff said the contractor will be given a notice to proceed with the project by mid-May. Construction should hopefully finish by the end of October if the weather is cooperative, Struckhoff said.

“It’ll be happening pretty quick now,” he commented.

City officials had previously hoped for construction to begin sooner. However, the process of acquiring easements was unpredictably lengthy, and each step of the process requires joint approval from MoDOT, increasing the time involved.

The 2.5-mile sidewalk will be built along the west side of Highway 47 from the North Service Road to Fairgrounds Road, and then on the east side of the highway to Hickory Lick Road. A pedestrian crosswalk will be installed  at Fairgrounds Road.