A project that should make several Northside streets safer for pedestrians is expected to wrap up in the next month.
Recently, the Jackson City Council approved a contract extension for Hemphill Construction, the firm the city brought on last year for a major traffic-calming project.
The extension gives Hemphill an additional 28 days to complete installation of the speed humps, and awards the firm an additional $75,000 for increases in costs and changes in the construction schedule.
The council also amended contract costs for the program manager, AJA Management and Technical Services, by approximately $30,000.
The increases bring the total cost of the Hemphill contract to almost $426,000, and the AJA agreement to around $105,000.
The contracts include adding speed humps and “Dip” signs along portions of 21 city streets, including nine on the Northside.
Those streets include Dogwood Drive, North Canton Club Road, Woodfield Drive, Mossline Drive, Oakridge Drive, Plantation Boulevard, Ridgeway Street, Winchester Street and River Thames Road.
It was unknown whether speed humps on those roads had been completed at press time.
The increases are being paid for with proceeds from a federal grant.
Costs increased in part because initial estimates for asphalt were too low.
Hemphill had to purchase an additional 187 tons of asphalt for the work.
Speed humps must be built high enough to slow traffic, but low enough to ensure cars don’t bottom out when driving over them.
Additionally, Hemphill is being reimbursed for changes in the construction sequencing.
Initial plans were to mill down the areas where the speed humps would be located, and install all the speed humps afterward.
However, after receiving complaints from residents, the city modified the construction schedule to allow the speed humps to be installed as spots were milled.
“The change in construction sequencing would increase contract time by 28 days,” Public Works Director Robert Miller said in a memo to Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba.
The change in the sequencing also increased the time needed to inspecting the work, leading to increases in costs to AJA’s contract, he wrote.
Because federal dollars are being used for the work, all changes had to be signed off on by the Mississippi Department of Transportation (MDOT).
Years ago, Jackson received a $2 million federal grant to use for traffic-calming projects including the installation of speed humps.
In 2012, the city still had about $1.1 million left and was using the money to pay for speed humps as applications were approved.
That year, though MDOT changed the rules to require the city to spend the remaining funds in two fell swoops. In other words, Jackson had to bundle numerous calming projects together before they would be considered by the state.
Some streets included in the Hemphill contract were approved for speed humps in 2010 and 2011.
Northside streets approved for speed humps:
• Dogwood Drive from Honeysuckle Lane to Meadowbrook Road;
• North Canton Club Road;
• Woodfield Drive and Mossline Drive;
• Oakridge Drive from Old Canton Road to Meadowbrook;
• Plantation Boulevard from Ridgewood Road to Fernwood Drive;
• Ridgeway Street from Northview Drive to North State Street;
• Winchester Street from Old Canton to Ridgewood;
• the River Thames Road area.
