This morning (Wednesday) Temple and Temple was awarded a $4.2 million bid to reconstruct State Road 56 from High Street in Salem east towards Heritage Chapel Road, according to an Indiana Department of Transportation spokesperson.
The widening of State Road 56 by the Seymour District of the INDOT is part of a larger project to prepare the area for the construction of the largest Wal-Mart Super Center in the Kentuckiana area.
Temple’s was among the four bids received on December 10.
Harry Maginity of INDOT said the other three bidders were “major players in the Southern Indiana area and all bids were fairly close.”
The work will begin in Spring 2015 as weather permits.
The Salem portion of this project is a complete reconstruction of the highway—including new sidewalks, curb ramps, retaining walls and storm sewer system.
The rural Washington County scope of this construction calls for repairing and resurfacing S.R. 56—including shoulder widening, building passing blisters and replacement of a small drainage structures.
Temple and Temple is a major part on the Wal-Mart project in general, having purchased 217.4 acres of the Day Farm where the retail development will be built as well as handling the road work — both for the City of Salem and the State. The excavating and paving business won the bid earlier this year to handle the move of city utilities, which is currently underway along SR 56.
Jason Uhl of Temple and Temple is the local construction manager of the project, which will move city water and sewer pipes from the state right of way.
“INDOT is the driving factor in doing the project. Their road widening project that will start next spring,” said Mark Sullivan, Project Manager with Midwestern Engineering, the city’s contracted engineer on the project. “Water, sewer, natural gas…any utilities in the way are being moved back out of the way. INDOT has bought a wider right of way. Each utility is doing the contract to move the items…Temple and Temple [was] hired by the City of Salem….Salem is paying a percentage…a small percentage…INDOT is paying a larger part of that.”
According to Sullivan, that work will be completed in the spring so the larger road project can begin.
Once the SR 56 reconstruction project is complete, the Wal-Mart project is expected to begin.
