Bid opening for the Carson City freeway project has been pushed back one week, giving contractors until July 17 to work up estimates for the nearly $80 million project, officials said Monday.
State consultants for the project said contractors were given an extra week to clarify language in the bid requests.
"The information wasn't quite clear to contractors," said Jim Dodson, project manager for PBS&J, roadway design consultants for the state. "There were questions in their minds about how to bid. We wanted to make sure they were bidding according to intent of design and specs."
Nevada Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Magruder said the delay shouldn't affect the expected start of the project this fall.
"It's a huge project and you want to be sure everything is ready to go by the time you open the bids," Magruder said.
Construction is expected to begin in September or October and will take about three years to finish. The project will complete the freeway from Lakeview Hill at Carson City's north end to Highway 50 East -- a stretch of about 4.6 miles.
The state completed the first portion of the project that required purchasing land for the northern half of the bypass and constructing overpasses and bridges over Arrowhead Drive, Northgate Lane, College Parkway and Emerson Drive.
The state is taking bids on the project that will build the freeway connecting them. The southern half of the freeway, which will extend the road to the junction of Highway 395 and Highway 50 West, is still in the planning stages.
About a dozen contractors, some from out of state, are expected to submit bids, Magruder said. As one of the highest-dollar road construction contracts to be awarded in Northern Nevada history, the state is expecting heavy competition.
Two other contracts over $80 million will be awarded by the end of the year. The unprecedented road construction season will reach $500 million in contracts signed by the end of the year, Magruder said.
"We're going to have very competitive bids, we feel," Magruder said. "There's a lot at stake here."