A job to finish: Stratford Road completion work to go out to bid after contractor defaults on contract
The view eastward from the southeast corner of the intersection of North Stratford and West Valley roads shows some of the incomplete construction. The city of Moses Lake has put completion of the Stratford Road improvement project out for bid, as the original contractor defaulted on its contract.
Charles H. Featherstone/Columbia Basin Herald
Some of the traffic cones are visible in the view northward from the southeast corner of the intersection of Stratford and West Valley roads, where a city of Moses Lake construction project remains unfinished.
MOSES LAKE — The orange traffic cones, the ad hoc lines denoting traffic lanes, and the dirt and gravel have been lingering since late April at the intersection of West Valley and Stratford roads.
But hopefully, not for much longer.
The city of Moses Lake is seeking bids from qualified companies able to complete the Stratford Road improvement project, which has been sitting unfinished after the original contractor, Kelso, Washington-based C&R Tractor and Landscaping, defaulted, or couldn’t fulfill the terms of the original contract for undisclosed reasons, earlier this year.
According to City Manager Allison Williams, the bid announcement is the second for the estimated $420,000 completion project. The first round, received in late July, all came in “much higher than the engineer’s estimate,” Williams said.
“There’s a lot that remains to be done,” Williams said. “Stratford needs to be graded, striped, and the traffic lights need to be working.”
Williams said city crews have been doing “interim work” on Stratford Road to keep things up and running and ready for completion.
Meanwhile, sidewalks at the intersection are missing, making navigating difficult for pedestrians. And drivers must be wary to remain in their lanes while passing through the busy intersection in a commercial area.
According to the nearly 150 pages of contract specifications, at the intersection of Valley and Stratford roads alone, more than two dozen things need to be done, everything from cleaning and grouting storm drains to grinding asphalt down so it is level with the gutter to installation of curb ramps and landscaping. The work is expected to take four to six weeks to finish once awarded.
Williams said she has been given authorization to sign a contract once the bids are in and reviewed on Aug. 17. State law requires government agencies to award competitive public works bids to the lowest bidder.
The city council first awarded the $2 million project to C&R Tractor and Landscaping in May 2020, following the company’s $1.7 million bid. However, C&R initially gave notice it would default on the project in August 2020, and provided an updated work schedule for spring of 2021 before finally defaulting on the project in April.
C&R did not respond to requests from the Columbia Basin Herald by press time for comment.
Williams said companies are required to provide a bond that will cover the cost of the project, or cities are allowed to retain a portion of the contract payments until completion, as insurance against default.
“That’s specifically why you do have bonds,” Williams said of defaults on contracts. “It does happen, though based from the response from staff, we’ve not seen this much.”
