$2.2M Manchester Road Streetscape Boundaries Expanded in Wildwood

Phase 2 of the Manchester Road Streetscape project in Wildwood includes new curbs, sidewalks, street lights, trees and pavement on "Old" Manchester Road from Missouri Route 109 to Eatherton Road. In a previous Patch article in January, Manchester Road Streetscape Enters Phase 2 in Wildwood, director public works and city engineer Ryan Thomas said most of the work over the next two months will involve relocating various utilities that are in conflict with underground drainage structures.

At a city council work session Monday evening, Thomas said an additional project now will be performed as part of the overall endeavor.

Thomas said the base contract amount of $1,268,756.50 to contractor J.M. Marschuetz Construction is below the original budget of $2.2 million. He said that budget total had been reduced to $1.9 million during the 2013 budget review.

The first addition of streetscape improvements targets East Avenue to Eatherton Road. The contractors proposed $92,231.05 to complete this additional segment of roadway, said Thomas. Administrative/Public Works Committee members concurred this would be a worthwhile addition at their Feb. 12 meeting.

The second addition is about burying overhead electric lines on the north side of Manchester Road. Thomas said this represented $200,000 of the original $2.2 million budget. He said Ameren provided proposals totaling $153,675.07 for their portion of the work, but they "also will require our contractor to install a concrete-encased duct bank and other structures to accommodate their work."

Thomas said the proposal provided from Wildwood's contractor's electricial subcontractor totals $228,306—bringing the total cost of the work to $381,981.07.

"Additionally, it will be necessary to modify a few of the service connections to homes, so in all likelihood, the total cost would end up being closer to $400,000," he said.

Even though this work can be included within the overall project budget, Thomas said he believes these dollars may be better used for other improvements, such as more streetscape improvements or reserving the funds for other projects. He also said Administrative/Public Works Committee members agreed with that stance.

Wildwood's "Manchester Road Streetscape Project" is different and apart from the multicity "Manchester Road Great Streets Project."

The Manchester Road Great Street Project involves the Missouri Route 100 Manchester Road between Route 141 and Route 109. Currently, only the cities of Wildwood, Ellisville and Ballwin are participating in that plan. City representatives, along with West St. Louis County Chamber of Commerce and Missouri Department of Transportation managers began putting ideas into motion for Manchester Road corridor last summer, and have been discussing desired plans since 2009.

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