FROED One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722-7700 Tel 508-324-2620 Fax 508-677-2840 info@froed.org		PEDAL TO THE METAL Bids for Route 24 interchange project to be opened Tuesday The Herald News, Saturday, October 24, 2009 - Page B1 Fall River - After months of anticipation and federal funds directed toward the project, bids for the Route 24 interchange project will be opened Tuesday. Advertised as a design/build project - in which the same firm designs and constructs the project — MassHighway has begun to institute this type of construction to speed up future project timelines, said MassHighway spokesman Adam Hurtubise. The four bids submitted are from Middlesex/ Cianbro, Walsh Construction, SPS New England and JF White/ET&L. While some work may begin before the onslaught of winter, Hurtubise said the bulk of the work won’t begin until spring. The project is expected to take roughly 2.5 years to complete, with August 2012 set as a tentative completion date. The project, expected to cost $70 million, will be completely funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds minus $5.85 million. That figure will also be covered by federal funds, Hurtubise said. The winning bidder will be selected by "best value," not the typical lowest bidder value. “Best value is price divided by technical score, which is based on how the firm approaches design and construction, and scored based on selection criteria predetermined and provided to the teams at the start of the bidding process,” Hurtubise said. “The committee comes up with a score. On Tuesday, we open the sealed price proposals and then divide the price by the technical score and then select the lowest number.” During the state’s largest stimulus-funded project, a new interchange will be created on Route 24 between Exit 8 and Exit 9 to provide access to South Main Street in Freetown, the Riverfront Business Park and the proposed SouthCoast Biopark in Fall River. Officials claim the interchange will help create between 8,000 to 11,000 area jobs. Fall River Office of Economic Development Executive Vice President Kenneth Fiola Jr. said the bid opening coming within the next month shows that the project — which has seen more than its share of false starts over the past decade — is no longer the subject of rumors. “The initial bid opening day was supposed to be September, so there was a slight delay, but having them be opened in October is not a huge difference,” Fiola said. “The fact that its starting to take place in this calender year and that the notice to proceed is this year, shows that this project is getting that much closer to being a reality.” Back