The Cole County Commission approved funds for two public works projects at its regular Tuesday meeting.
Commissioners approved funds for engineering work to design the second phase of Business 50 West improvements.
The first phase of the project, completed in late 2014 for $4.3 million, rebuilt the road, added curbs and gutter, storm water drainage and a sidewalk along the south side of the road from Country Club Drive west to past South Binder Lake and Babe Ruth drives.
The county also had an agreement with Jefferson City's Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department to build a greenway trail on the north side from South Binder Lake Road east to Country Club Drive, with the city department paying $76,000 for the extra work.
The second phase will begin near Babe Ruth Drive where the first phase ended in 2014. The work will continue on to Route T in St. Martins. Part of the road will be three lanes and part of it will be two lanes.
The three-lane section will go to just west of Cheyenne Drive and then taper to two lanes all the way to Route T. Cheyenne is the end of the commercial area of Apache Flats. It will have a curb, gutter and sidewalk similar to what was put in for the first phase of improvements.
The engineering cost is $150,360. Construction will begin in 2020, and the county's pre-design construction estimate is $3.3 million. The project will be funded by the county's half-cent sales tax.
In other action Tuesday, commissioners approved a $225,680 change order to pay for overruns on the Crossroads Subdivision stormwater project, which includes Dewberry Drive, Rustic Lane and Greenbrier Drive. The total cost for the work had been budgeted at $1.2 million. Funding for the project comes from the county's half-cent capital improvements sales tax.
The project replaced all stormwater inlets and pipes and then rebuilt subdivision streets. County Engineer Eric Landwehr said workers ran into more problems with moving utilities and excavation issues than expected, and the winter weather in November kept workers from getting out. The project had a completion date of Nov. 17.
Landwehr told commissioners all concrete work should be done by the end of the month and yard work, such as seeding and grading, should be done in the spring. It will be fall before yards would get back to looking normal, he said. Temporary mulch and other erosion control will be put in place.
This will be the last time the county will undertake such a large scale stormwater project, he said. The end result will be good, he said, but the problems encountered getting to this point were more than expected.