
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 14, 1991                   TAG: 9103140513
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

OLD MOUNTAIN RD. BRIDGE TO REMAIN OPEN DURING REPAIRS

Residents in Northeast Roanoke can rest easy. They won't have to find alternative travel routes while the Old Mountain Road bridge over Tinker Creek is repaired.

William Clark, city public works director, said the bridge will remain open most of the time because the contractor can make the repairs while motorists use it.

The bridge may have to be closed for an hour occasionally during non-peak traffic periods while the concrete is being repaired, he said.

The contractor will use portable traffic lights to route motorists across the bridge. The repairs will begin next week on the structure near the Ole Monterey golf course.

The specifications required contractors to submit bids for doing the repairs while the bridge was closed. Contractors were also asked to submit alternative prices for repairing the bridge while it remains open to traffic.

City traffic engineers preferred the bridge remain open to reduce inconvenience to residents in the Monterey neighborhood, but they were not sure of the additional cost.

Consulting engineers had estimated the repairs would cost $135,000.

Lanford Brothers, a Roanoke contractor, submitted a bid of $84,053 for making the repairs if the bridge was closed. It quoted a price of $112,047 for the work if the bridge remained open.

The contractor will have 90 days to finish the repairs.

City Council had hoped to award a contract earlier this week when bids were opened, but it delayed a decision until officials could get a clarification on the bid.

Clark said the committee that was appointed to review the bids will ask council to award a contract on Monday.

The bridge needs to be repaired immediately because a recent inspection showed that the concrete has deteriorated seriously, city officials said.

A 5-ton weight limit was imposed on the bridge as a precautionary measure earlier this year.

School bus schedules for more than 300 children have been changed because 10 buses have been rerouted through Roanoke County to serve the neighborhoods near the Ole Monterey golf course.

Chauncey Logan, transportation director for city schools, said earlier the buses are being rerouted by way of Hollins and Plantation Roads and Shadwell Drive. They are running about 15 minutes earlier in the morning so they can reach the schools on time.

by CNB