COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Seven years after downtown Columbus' Main Street Bridge closed, the city is still more than a year away from completing a new bridge.
The cost is also ten of millions of dollars more than early-reported estimates.
In 2002, Columbus city leaders deemed the Main Street Bridge too dangerous to stay open to traffic.
That same year, Business First reported that a replacement bridge with an inclined steel arch would cost an estimated $19.5 million.
The Columbus Dispatch later reported that the $19.5 million estimate came from engineers, but in 2004, a new estimate pegged the cost at $29.2 million.
Then, in 2006, the project was bid out and the lowest construction bid came back at $44.1 million.
Now, in May 2009, with design and inspection costs included in the $2 million in construction cost overruns, Columbus Public Service Director Mark Kelsey explained, "You have a bridge that's costing in the neighborhood of $54 million to date," Kelsey said.
That's only if the project stays on budget. The city has another $5 million in funding lined up in case costs continue to climb.
Franklin County spent $12 million building the Broad Street Bridge, which opened in 1991. In 2009, that would be the equivalent of $22 million to $25 million. That means the city could have built two Broad Street bridges for the price of the Main Street Bridge.
Kelsey, who didn't work for the city in 2002, insists the original estimate was actually $17 million -- even lower than the reported $19.5 million estimate. But, he said, such a figure was premature and unauthorized, released by a bridge designer trying to get his design chosen.
"He was radically wrong obviously, and was subsequently terminated from the project," Kelsey said.
When asked if the city attempted to correct the reported $19.5 million estimate, Kelsey said he didn't know. Instead, he said residents should have relied on the $44.1 million low bid in 2006 to form a first opinion on the bridge's costs.
"There's been a few change orders so it's in the neighborhood of $45 million, $46 million to date, which is not bad," Kelsey said.
The $2 million in cost overruns, combined with $3 million for design costs and $4.6 million for inspection costs bring the total project cost to $54 million.
So what's the takeaway for taxpayers who came to believe the bridge could be built for less than $20 million?
"There's no good estimate until the bids are in. That's the takeaway," Kelsey said.
To Kelsey's credit, his office worked to save the city $9.5 million by modifying design work on the Town Street Bridge replacement -- to be known as the Rich Street Bridge.
For additional information, stay with nbc4i.com and NBC 4 and refresh nbc4i.com -- Where Accuracy Matters.
To submit a story idea or news tip, e-mail us at stories@nbc4i.com.
NBC 4 POLITICS: Headlines, Interactives & Video
MORE: NBC 4 Local News | Local Crime News
NBC 4 SPORTS: Sports News, Video
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement