A major road in Jefferson will see a significant improvement soon.

The Jefferson City Council approved at its March 12th meeting awarding a contract to InRoads of Des Moines of $833,555 to resurface East Lincoln Way from Locust Street to the city cemetery. However, it was mentioned at the meeting that while InRoads was the lowest bidder of three, the bid was still over nine percent more than the city engineer, Bolton & Menk had estimated the project at $764,050. 

City Administrator Scott Peterson says the total with this project, along with the two sanitation trucks, and 1,500 recycling carts is about $3,000 over the maximum bond issuance that the Council previously approved at $1.7 million. 

“We will then absorb those additional costs through the city budget, if need be. Actual cost for the highway project are based on actual quantity, so there’s a little flux in what the total cost might be.”

The project is anticipated to be completed before any major summer events, including the Bell Tower Festival in June and the Greene County Fair in July. Peterson adds that while the project is happening, there will always be one lane open on East Lincoln Way.