Northern Lakes Economic Alliance • 231-582-6482 • info@northernlakes.net
Amanda Baker, Community Development & Engagement
The East Jordan DDA and Gosling Czubak Engineers ramped up the timeline on the Joining Jordan pedestrian bridge project and anticipate construction in Summer 2020.
The East Jordan DDA has been looking at their Joining Jordan pedestrian bridge project since 2018 with their sights set on beginning actual construction in 2021. Over the past couple of weeks, changes in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) came to light and East Jordan realized they needed to complete engineering and bid the project by the end of the year.
Not willing to leave a $2.4 million project on the table with $2.1 offered up in grant funding, the City of East Jordan and the engineers at Gosling Czubak leapt into action to complete the engineering and bid packages. After numerous calls and meetings, the team was able to pull together a plan that will meet the end of the year timeline and allow the project to happen a full year earlier than originally anticipated.
In order to meet the timeline, the East Jordan DDA hit pause on a concurrent streetscape refresh project and authorized full-throttle on the pedestrian bridge. Engineers will also work directly with potential contractors to prepare them for the project before the bid requests go out to be sure the best responses are achieved even with the packets going out during the holiday season. By focusing full energy on the project and keeping outside eyes on it, East Jordan is confident they’ll reach their goal, and are excited to see the final product take shape next summer.
