ARDOT recommends putting company working on Saline Co. I-30 project into default of contract
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Arkansas transportation officials said they are ready to change the contract status for the company working on the much-delayed Interstate 30 widening project in Saline County.
During an Arkansas Highway Commission meeting Tuesday, officials with Arkansas Department of Transportation recommended that Johnson Brothers Corporation, A Southland Company, be placed in default of contract.
This all centers around the effort to expand a part of I-30 in Saline County to six lanes. The 5.5-mile stretch would run from Highway 70 to Sevier Street.
Work on the $187-million project started in May of 2019 and was originally scheduled to be completed in November of 2022. The completion date on the contract was then slid to April 2023 due to what ARDOT described as “unforeseen field conditions.”
It is now ten months after that deadline, and the work on the project is far from done. ARDOT stated that the latest estimate for the projected to be completed is January 2025, more than two years later than the original estimate.
Transportation officials said Tuesday that they believe moving Johnson Brothers into default must happen to make sure the expansion project is completed.
Arkansas Highway Commission Chairman Alec Farmer noted that there is still time for Johnson Brothers to respond before final action is taken.
“The Arkansas Highway Commission will consider the facts presented by ARDOT and any proposed remediation by the Contractor before making a final decision on whether to grant ARDOT’s recommendation,” Farmer said in a release. “The ultimate goal is to complete this project as expeditiously as possible and provide a safe road for the traveling public.”
Earlier this month, KARK 4 News reported that Johnson Brothers had already racked up more than $20 million in fines for being past the deadline on the project.
If the completion is not done until the current January 2025 expected date, the company would end up with fines totaling nearly $50 million.
from KARK https://ift.tt/cuf9XsS
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