T-DOT has indicated it will help pay for at least some of the utility relocations needed along Baxter’s Ditty Road.
Engineer Tom Bennett told Aldermen Thursday he has not received a dollar amount on the state reimbursement, only a willingness to help. Baxter spent some $1.6 million improving the road that leads to the Portobello Plant. However, several utility pieces are in the way of the next state expansion to the road.
“We have made great progress with where we’re at with the project, be ready to go to bed here fairly shortly,” Bennett said. “The challenge is going to be, it’s a difficult project. There’s not a lot of pipe to lay. So can you get a bidder to do this? I don’t know that. All we can do is throw it out there and see where it lands.”
Bennett said he understood the tearing up of a new road to relocate utilities will be frustrating, the best path forward is to take it all one step at a time.
“When we met in November, I think is when we talked about we need to figure out what these conflicts are,” Bennett said. “We figured out what they are. We haven’t fully resolved how to work around them. It’s very complex to get around their systems because we’re dealing with gravity sewers, etc.”
The utilities were installed two and a half years ago. The state will move forward with Industrial Access to Portobello as part of the new project. Bennett said T-DOT has postponed bidding on the project until this work around can be finalized.
