City Council will address the subject tonight at their meeting. Here's some information about what is on the agenda from this article taken from the KDMiner.com site...
Council will consider a list of nine recommendations from the Arizona Department of Transportation designed to reduce the cost of an Interstate 40 traffic interchange at Rattlesnake Wash. An independent team of ADOT "value analyzers," who are called in to look for savings on any project estimated to cost over $10 million, drew up the list of recommendations.
The interchange is anticipated to cost approximately $38.4 million, with ADOT intending to finance 70 percent of that cost, though the agency made drastic cuts to its level of anticipated funding in its most recent five-year outlook, dropping the anticipated spending from $18 million to just $5 million, and pushing the funding from fiscal year 2013 to FY2014.
First off the math seems a bit fuzzy. Also not long ago the estimated cost for the project was $36 million dollars so the cost has gone up, makes me wonder what the actual cost will look like come fiscal year 2014. The longer the project is delayed, the more it will cost.
Getting back to the math for a second. At one point trumpets were blaring that the state (ADOT) was picking up 70% of the cost for the proposed project... and $18 million does not equal 70%. Alas that doesn't really matter now that ADOT has rescinded the kind offer down to $5 million bucks according to the above article.
In the end this means if this community wants this project, this community will have to pay for this project with money up front -- at least will have secured guaranteed money up front in any case (in the form of bonds or increased taxes). This also means that this community takes on all of the risk for the infrastructure, minus the reduced ADOT funding.
Of course the community could still agree to sell 168 acres of land sorta near that proposed interchange to help defray the risk and cost... but thats talk for another time.
More...
The analysts' list of recommendations proffers more than $4 million in cost-cutting measures for the interchange, including reducing the number of lanes on the proposed Mohave Drive overpass, replacing the Rattlesnake Wash box culvert with a bridge, and cutting the number of lanes for Mohave Drive itself, from I-40 to Airway Avenue and from Airway Avenue to Industrial Boulevard.
Council members will consider which, if any, of the recommendations to adopt.
Maybe the project doesn't need the extra lanes for this infrastructure whenever it gets off the ground... but I'll guess at some point the community will need to improve the lanes for traffic (or else why the extra lanes in the original proposal??). Guess who'll pay for that... at what will be an even higher cost than originally proposed most likely??
Sounds most like the 'value analyzers' are just looking for ways to help the state avoid serving a bigger piece of a once promised pie to the folks here in Kingman.
I'd live-blog this meeting, but I have a ball game tonight. If anyone else wants to update what happens on this issue tonight at the meeting, feel free to do so in the comments... or write something up and email me and I'll post it in the morning.
There is also an item on the agenda about the proposed Interstate 11 deal. Link here for more info.
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