Falls 2020 Paving Program Approved with Savings

Smoother driving is coming to a half dozen Falls Township roads.

During the Supervisors virtual meeting Monday night, the board voted unanimously to award its 2020 road improvement program to General Asphalt Paving Co. in the amount of $3,046,575.67. The project received two bids. The other bidder came in at about $200,000 higher, according to Township Engineer Joe Jones.

Falls had earmarked $6.5 million for the project, including engineering fees. The project came in “significantly under budget,” Jones said.

As part of the project, the following roads are planned for full-depth reconstruction: Simons Drive between Lions Drive and Bernard Drive; Gilbert Drive between Elbow Lane and Bernard Drive; Decou Drive between Walnut Lane and West Trenton Avenue; and Burgess Avenue from dead end to North Lafayette Avenue. The following roads are planned for mill and overlay improvements: Elbow Lane from Stony Hill Road and the Falls Township boundary; Walnut Lane from the dead end to North Pennsylvania Avenue; and North Lafayette Avenue from North Pennsylvania Avenue to West Trenton Avenue.

The improvements include a portion of Elbow Lane in Lower Makefield Township. Officials said Lower Makefield would reimburse Falls for its portion of the project.

Jones Engineering Associates will provide construction inspection and oversight for all work within the project scope and attend weekly progress meetings.

In other business, the Supervisors approved a change order for the 2018 road program in the amount of $7,670. Jones said the cost stemmed from an overage for topsoil. Jones worked to have the cost reduced by more than half of what the contractor had originally charged.

“We negotiated the best we could,” Jones told the Supervisors. “We came to a fair arrangement.”

Moving forward, Jones said work which incurs additional costs would not proceed until the township issues a written authorization.

“We’re watching out and this won’t happen again,” Jones said.

The 2018 road program came in $100,000 under budget and would not be impacted by the small change order, Jones said.