Camas will award roundabout construction contract in April

Bids are currently being solicited for the $1.5 million project

Construction bids are being solicited to build a roundabout and center median at Northwest Sixth Avenue and Norwood Street in Camas.

The improvement project will include the one-lane roundabout, planter strips and sidewalks at the entrance into the city. The site is a major thoroughfare where traffic enters and exits Highway 14 to the west and east. Sixth Avenue takes travelers who have exited Highway 14 east past landmarks including Forest Home Park and the paper mill, and into the historic downtown shopping district.

According to the request for bids, the improvement project scope of work includes clearing and grubbing, roadway excavation, storm water and waterline improvements, paving, irrigation system, erosion control, curbs, gutters and sidewalks, traffic control, pavement marking, illumination system and landscaping.

The city’s 2016 budget has set aside $1.5 million for the project. Funding is being gleaned from limited tax general obligation bonds, initially approved by the City Council in 2014.

Construction bids will be opened on Tuesday, March 29, followed by the awarding of the contract to the low bidder by the City Council during its regular meeting on Monday, April 4.

Currently, no traffic control devices exist at the major four-way intersection. The City Council initially considered approving a long-planned traffic signal for the site, at a cost of approximately $530,000. However, after discussion and input from Washington State Department of Transportation officials and the public its members eventually supported the roundabout concept and design.

Once the bid is awarded, construction is expected to start within three to four weeks and take six to seven months to complete.