Work on Richmond's Stellar Streets project, which was scheduled to begin this summer, has been delayed until 2018.
The Indiana Department of Transportation, which is handling the bidding for the project, rejected the bids it received last week. INDOT will let the project for bids again in October, with work now set to begin sometime next year.
Mayor Dave Snow announced INDOT's decision at this week's Richmond Common Council meeting.
City Controller Beth Fields, who has worked on the Richmond's Stellar Communities project since its inception, said INDOT has several criteria it reviews when letting bids and those weren't met for the Richmond project.
The state received bids of $5,978,650 by Milestone Contractors of Richmond, $6,355,512.58 by Schutt-Lookabill Co. of Indianapolis and $6,683,596.92 by Olco Inc. of Batesville. The budget for the project is $6.25 million.
Stellar Streets will include improvements to North Seventh Street from East Main to the Historic Depot District; East Main from First to Seventh streets; and North and South 10th streets between the 10th Street Park and the former Pennsylvania Railroad Depot.
Work will include adding a bicycle lane, pedestrian crossings and landscaping. The median in the 500 block of East Main Street will be removed, and there will be some straightening of the street between the Whitewater River Gorge and Seventh Street. Between Seventh and 10th streets, the majority of the work will be landscaping improvements. On North 10th Street, parking will be limited to one side to add a bicycle path.