Traffic barrels fill the area where a roundabout is set to be constructed at Winona Avenue, Argonne Road, Kings Highway and Park Avenue at the border of Winona Lake and Warsaw. While construction of the roundabout has not started yet, NIPSCO is currently doing utility work in preparation for it. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

WINONA LAKE — A bid has been accepted for work on Winona Lake’s future roundabout.

Winona Lake Town Manager Craig Allebach let the Winona Lake Town Council know that news at its meeting on Tuesday, April 19.

The Indiana Department of Transportation, which is working with the town on the roundabout set to be constructed at Park Avenue, Kings Highway, Argonne Road and Winona Avenue, rebid the project recently. The winning bidder was Phend & Brown at an amount of $2,989,989.

The project had to be rebid because when the initial bidding period occurred in January, there was only one bidder and the bid came in too high.

However as Allebach explained Tuesday, this bidding period didn’t run smoothly either.

“The rebid, we were hoping to try and keep it the same, maybe a little bit lower. It came very close to not being bid again, but was bid,” said Allebach.

For the project, INDOT is footing 80% of the bill, with the town providing 20%.

Allebach said one of the next steps in the process is having a pre-construction meeting, but he isn’t sure of a timeline for that happening yet.

Utility work

While the actual construction of the roundabout hasn’t started yet, work has been going on the site for awhile with those driving in the area being unable to go under the overpass on Argonne.

NIPSCO is currently doing utility work for the project, said Allebach.

“They will be there – last I heard – until the second week in May,” he said. “So they’re putting all new electric in — with the understanding that the electric was supposed to be done actually, but I see they’re out there today working on electric, so maybe they are behind. … And then they were going to finish up the gas the second week in May.”

“They’re putting a big 8-inch main, I believe, through there … putting in new electric, new gas,” he said.

Prior to NIPSCO’s utility work there, Warsaw completed a storm drain project, added Allebach.