A $25.45 million bid to demolish part of the elevated Hart Bridge Expressway and construct new ramp connections is headed to Mayor Lenny Curry’s desk for final approval.
The City’s General Government Awards Committee voted Jan. 23 to recommend awarding the demolition contract to Jacksonville-based J.B. Coxwell Contracting Inc.
The company submitted the lowest of three bids. Its proposal beat Roanoke, Texas-based Johnson Bros. Corp. A Southland Co that bid $31,313,699.79, and Jacksonville-based Superior Construction Co. Southeast LLC at $32,125,687.
The company cannot begin work until Curry signs off on the contract.
The Jacksonville Department of Public Works project, officially named the “Urban Core Riverfront Revitalization & Complete Streets: Hart Bridge Expressway & Talleyrand Connector,” is intended to promote development of the Shipyards properties and Lot J near TIAA Bank Field and Metropolitan Park.
Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan is proposing a combined $2.5 billion redevelopment of the sites.
The project calls for removing part of the Hart Bridge ramp at Liberty Street between Gator Bowl and A. Philip Randolph boulevards, bringing a portion of the expressway to street level and aligning the new roadway.
Construction of a signalized intersection at Gator Bowl Boulevard is part of the project.
City Council appropriated $12.46 million of Florida Department of Transportation grant funds toward the $38.9 million project.
The remainder of the money comes from a $12.5 million federal transportation grant, $12.5 million from city borrowed funds and $1.5 million transferred from other city projects.
The project is anticipated to begin in the first quarter of the year and be completed by the end of 2021.
A Roadway Transfer Agreement shifts the ownership and maintenance of that portion of the Florida 228/Hart Bridge Expressway right-of-way from FDOT to the city.