Twin Peaks bids way under budget
Arizona Daily Star, March 5, 2009
By Shelley Shelton
The Arizona Department of Transportation is set to award the bid for Marana's Twin Peaks Interchange next week. The department opened the bids last month, and much to the town's delight, found the lowest bid to be about $15 million less than anticipated.
The project — which will extend West Twin Peaks Road east from Continental Ranch and connect with a widened Camino de Mañana east of Interstate 10 — was expected to cost more than $65 million in the weeks leading up to the opening of the bids. But the bids that came in ranged from $50.5 million to $64.9 million.
Work is expected to start within the next two to three months.
The town has committed $14 million in developer impact fees and has agreed to cover the extension of a $1 million water line, said town engineer Keith Brann. ADOT, the lead agency on the project, also has committed $14 million, said Linda Ritter, an ADOT spokeswoman.
Another $11.2 million will come from federal earmarks, she said, with additional money coming from the Regional Transportation Authority, state transportation project funding and highway user revenue funds.
The Twin Peaks project will take about 18 months, Brann said. Another project that is dependent on the Twin Peaks project will overlap with the Twin Peaks construction.
That project will widen Camino de Mañana and extend North Dove Mountain Boulevard to Camino de Mañana.
It's expected to take about 12 months, Brann said. ADOT is slated to announce who gets the Twin Peaks contract at its board meeting March 13.
Contact reporter Shelley Shelton at 618-1921 or sshelton@azstarnet.com.
