The Van Buren County Road Commission is canceling plans for two multi-million-dollar construction projects due to rising price tags.
After two years of planning, the commission is pulling the plug on plans to remodel and expand their administration center and build a new garage in Bangor. Road Commission Managing Director Bret Witkowski said in just under three years, the projected cost nearly doubled due to inflation and competing with other governments that had access to covid relief funds.
“The initial cost was under 10 million for both facilities and by the time it got to the end, it was over 16 million and that does not count any change orders,” said Witkowski.
Van Buren had permission to spend up to $20 million on the project, but officials felt that would have obligated too much money to their facilities at the expense of fixing and maintaining roads.
“Our job is to maintain the roads. And maximize as much as we can,” said Witkowski.
Instead, the county will update the garage in Bangor and perform modest updates at the admin center using money formerly used to repay a bond that has now been satisfied.
