Sole bid received for Monticello / 2nd project is over budget

The City of Charlottesville has plans to reconfigure the intersection of Monticello Avenue and 2nd Street.

“This project consists of constructing pedestrian improvements on all four corners of the Monticello Ave and 2nd Street intersection to increase visibility for pedestrians and reduce the crossing distances across the intersection,” reads an entry on the city’s procurement page. “Additionally, some signal work is included in this project.”

Bids were due on April 18 and the sole respondent was Curtis Contracting who submitted a bid of $1,838,258.25.

“Bid exceeded project budget,” reads the top of the page.

The Virginia Department of Transportation dashboard lists that the project has a budget of $1.4 million.

A request for comment from the City of Charlottesville remains pending.

On April 21, Charlottesville City Council approved a resolution authorizing the appropriation for the “Monticello 2nd Project” but there was no written description in the staff report. That prompted City Councilor Lloyd Snook to inquire about the project.

“What’s the motivation?” he asked. “The public ought to know what is going to happen there.”

Michael Goddard, deputy director of public works, said the project is intended to improve safety at an intersection that connects the Ix Park with the rest of downtown Charlottesville.

“It’s quite a busy intersection on a Saturday morning,” Goddard said. “The project is meant to shorten what we see as too long of a crossing for pedestrians across Monticello Avenue. The way we’re going to take care of that is to widen the sidewalks and build bulb-outs on the corners.”

However, Goddard did not mention the project is now over budget.

Other recent procurement news:

• Only one firm responded to a request for estimates for replacement of 2,900 linear feet of waterline on Locust Avenue. Southeast Connections LLC turned in a bid for $1,508,488,70 and was awarded the bid on April 18.
• The City of Charlottesville has awarded a contract to S.L. Williamson to renovate the tennis court at Tonsler Park. As part of the work they will restripe the courts to allow pickleball to be played on top of the tennis playing fields. According to the city’s procurement portal, work is to commence on April 14 and be completed by July 18, 2025. (learn more)

Before you go: This story originally went out in the April 22 edition of the Charlottesville Community Engagement newsletter. The quotes from Snook and Goddard were added as part of the research work for the April 24 edition. This is a production of a Town Crier, as opposed to Town Criers, so it takes a bit to get to everything. If you want to increase the chance of plurality,

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