Southwest 38th Street upgrade expected to begin in April

An arterial upgrade that City of Lawton officials have been eyeing for years is expected to begin by mid-April.

City Council members voted Tuesday to award a $4.35 million mill and overlay project to T&G Construction, designating that Lawton firm as the contractor to improve Southwest 38th Street between West Gore and West Lee boulevards. Consulting engineer Chris Serrano said in mid-March that the game plan was to start the upgrade work on the south half-mile (the section south of the railroad tracks), with a potential start time in mid- to late April.

While the contractor has been directed to keep one northbound and one southbound lane open (as a condition of the contract), the 240-day project still must balance the needs of Cameron University and other businesses that have their access points on Southwest 38th Street. While Cameron has many avenues of access, Southwest 38th Street is the primary entrance into its football stadium, which hosts youth sports games as well as May’s commencement ceremony. In addition, some businesses further south are only accessible via Southwest 38th Street.

Serrano said officials are keeping those issues and activities in mind as they plan the project, to include designating detour routes to ensure access.

That balance isn’t the only issue facing the City of Lawton.

Council members were careful in their action Tuesday to explain why Lawton was opting to award the contract to the second-lowest bidder — T&G Construction — rather than low-bidder Schiralli Construction Corp.

While Schiralli’s bid was $353,000 lower than that submitted by T&G Construction, Serrano said an engineering analysis found the bid non-responsive due to documented performance concerns and a contractual issue with another municipality “which raised substantial doubts regarding the bidder’s ability to successfully complete the project in accordance with the City’s standards and expectations.”

Ward 4 Councilman George Gill, who heads the council’s Street and Bridges Committee, said committee members concurred it would be “most prudent” to award the contract to the second-lowest bidder, T&G Construction.

Serrano said bids are analyzed on multiple issues, including responsibility. He said when engineers looked at Schiralli’s bid, they looked at projects comparable to the Southwest 38th Street work and based on their findings, “it appears this contractor did not responsibly pursue that work or contract obligations.” He said engineers looked at two specific projects, including University Boulevard in Durant, which was “fraught with problems,” including evidence the contractor did not do work “for extended periods of time” and left questions of quality of materials. An Oklahoma Department of Transportation project in Coal County had similar problems, Serrano said.

City Manager John Ratliff, who also is an attorney, said Lawton city code allows the council to award a contract to other than the low bidder, but the council must cite a specific reason (in this case, questions about the contractor’s ability to perform the contract).

“Not always is the low bid the best choice,” said Ward 3 Councilwoman Linda Chapman, who has cited the Southwest 38th Street upgrade as one of her most pressing projects.

The full council agreed, voting to allow city staff to execute the contract with T&G after the city’s legal team completes its review and approves the action.