The City has issued the Notice to Proceed to Great Basin Engineering Contractors (GBEC) for the Downtown Development Infrastructure Phase 1 Project. GBEC is expected to begin equipment mobilization and construction early next week.
The Downtown Infrastructure project has been long in the making. First planned under the city’s Civic Center Downtown Plan in 2001, many precursor projects have occurred over the last two decades in preparation for this project. Those previous projects have included: The Wendover Will City Center Monument project of 2005, the Pueblo Boulevard Beautification and Enhancement Project of 2006, the construction of N. Gene L. Jones Way in 2007 followed by the completion of the Historic Victory Highway Monument and City Hall in 2009, the Wendover Boulevard Phase 1 Complete Streets Project of 2012, the completion of the city’s Downtown Master Plan in 2020 (westwendoverdowntown.com) and the fee simple acquisition of 84 acres of federal BLM land for the area which was previously part of a Recreation and Public Purpose lease with the BLM dating back to the early 2000’s.
In 2018 the project moved from just a vision to reality when the city first secured long-term financing from USDA Rural Development for $4,414,000 followed over the next several years with three separate grants including a $525,000 grant from the Nevada Community Development Block Grant program, a $1,175,000 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and a $400,000 grant from Nevada Gold Mines; all dedicated partners to the project. Additionally, the city obligated approximately $600,000 of its SLFRF (State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds) received under federal Covid legislation in 2022 for the project. Total cost including design and construction coming in at approximately $7.1 million.
However, as with many projects not just locally but around the region and nation, the Covid-19 Pandemic wreaked its havoc. As a result of national supply chain, materials availability and construction labor issues related to the Pandemic, the project ended up being bid twice with a final award made in late June of 2022 to Great Basin Engineering Contractors (GBEC). Upon award, the city's engineering team at Aqua Engineering, Inc. and GBEC went to work on solving the remaining materials and labor issues which took several months to iron out. In mid-February 2023, resolution of the remaining issues was completed and GBEC indicated they were ready to proceed with project construction.
Mayor Jasie Holm commented, “It’s exciting to see the downtown project finally get underway. This project will provide the infrastructure to attract new businesses and growth to our community.”
The project elements include: A 900-foot extension of Pueblo Boulevard beginning at the intersection of Wendover Boulevard and going north. The street was designed to meet the city’s complete streets initiatives thus providing for a one way major arterial street with two travel lanes each direction, bicycle lanes, pedestrian walkways, decorative lighting, a semaphore traffic/pedestrian signal at the intersection of Wendover Boulevard and Pueblo Boulevard, a ½ acre plus grassed plaza area named the Victory Plaza, after the historic Victory Highway which bisects the downtown, along with all the needed utility infrastructure to service approximately 40 plus acres of property that will be available for mixed used development under the city’s new Downtown Zone.
City Manager Chris Melville said, “Though there is certainly no anticipation that development of the properties will be overwhelming in the first few years, this project and its need is important to the long-term development and quality of life for the residents. This city has never had an actual true Downtown that someone can point to when asked. However, now we will have our Downtown, one that the residents can be very proud of as it takes root and develops over the next many decades. Working on and leading this project since its inception more than two decades ago, to be honest, I am a bit weary. However, I am proud of this project and the commitment that many of our elected officials through the years have made on its behalf and what it will mean to the community, our residents, our visitors and our future”.
The project is expected to be completed in early September 2023.
Original source can be found here.
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