City Amends Road Project Budget Due To Rising Costs

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sjdowntownmainstreet-3

Inflation isn’t just affecting prices at the grocery store and gas pump, it’s resulted in road construction being more expensive. St. Joseph City Commissioners on Monday approved an amendment to the budget for a resurfacing project on Broad Street and Langley set for this year due to its cost going up. City Engineer Tim Zebell told commissioners the total cost to resurface the streets between about city hall to Pearl Street has gone up from $425,000 to $650,000.

“I’m not excited about paying these prices, but quite honestly, what happens with these federal funds is that if we don’t use them, they go off somewhere else and another community gets them,” Zebell said.

Zebell said the city’s share went up by $117,000 due to the overall 43% project cost increase. Due to a $307,000 grant, the cost to the city for the work is $342,000. Zebell said the increase is due to asphalt and labor, among other things. The work is scheduled to take place starting around April and be finished in October. However, construction will be suspended around Memorial Day for the Senior PGA Championship and then again for the entire month of July.