NASHUA – The Board of Aldermen on Tuesday is expected to vote on awarding the contract for the design of a new bridge over the Nashua River as part of the Broad Street Parkway project.
A contract that would be awarded to Fay, Spofford & Thorndike LLC, of Burlington, Mass., has been approved by the city Finance Committee and Board of Public Works.
However, the $977,863 contract was recently amended to add $43,944.
That brought the total to $1.02 million.
The contract now requires the aldermen’s approval because it exceeds $1 million, said Alderman-at-Large Brian McCarthy, the board president.
The contract is included in board correspondence for the meeting, as Mayor Donnalee Lozeau wrote a memo to the board asking aldermen to OK the contract.
It won’t be assigned to a committee because it’s already been endorsed by two boards, McCarthy said.
Lozeau also asked the board to waive the reconsideration period so work on the bridge design can begin as soon as possible.
The bridge design also must be approved by the Federal Highway Administration.
Construction of the bridge, which would cross the river at the Millyard, is expected to cost about $8 million.
The parkway is a joint city and state Transportation Department project built with a mix of city and federal dollars; it is estimated to cost about $64.5 million.
In 2008, aldermen approved a $37.6 million bond, representing the city’s share of the construction cost.
The idea of a road connecting Broad Street with Hollis Street, providing a third crossing of the Nashua River and a way for traffic to avoid Library Hill, has been discussed since at least the 1960s.
First envisioned as a four-lane divided highway, the project has been whittled down to a 1.5-mile, two-lane, limited-access road. It’s expected to be open to traffic by the end of 2014, city officials say.
Patrick Meighan can be reached at 594-6518 or pmeighan@nashua telegraph.com.![]()
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