Mason City council approves Scrip Road conversion project, will wait on Illinois Avenue bridge widening

MASON CITY — The City Council in Mason City this week awarded a construction contract for one portion of the city’s Destination Iowa bike trail project, but another portion of the project that was scheduled for later this year will be shelved for now. The city did not receive any bids for the Illinois Avenue bridge widening project.

City Engineer Mark Rahm says contractors who showed an interest in the project but did not submit a bid stated their schedules were nearly filled and they would not be able to meet the project’s completion date. “The contractors weren’t able to take on the extra load, everybody is kind of booked up, so we’ll bid it this fall for a next year project.”

Rahm says despite the setback, the city doesn’t anticipate having any issues with completing the project within the time parameters outlined in the Destination Iowa program.   “There is a timeline that I think runs into 2026 actually. We have to have things allocated I believe late in 2025, so it’s just a minor delay. It’s an isolated project, kind of a stand-alone project, so other than getting it done, we’re not out anything.”

The plan is to release the project for rebidding toward the latter part of this year with the project being completed in 2024.

The council approved the one bid submitted for the Scrip Road Conversion Project from Heartland Asphalt of Mason City for $428,172, slightly over the engineer’s estimated cost of the project of $425,571