By COLE REIF
Great Bend Post
The Great Bend City Council Monday night approved the bids for the parts and labor to install battery backups on a number of traffic lights, mostly on 10th Street.
January of this year, the City of Great Bend received a grant through the Kansas Department of Transportation to assist with the majority of the expense. Great Bend Public Works Director Jason Cauley said the city received two bids.
"We did try to reach out to more people," said Cauley. "There were only two received for the labor. Nobody else was able to get bids back to us in a timely manner. This is one of the reasons it has taken so long to bring it to council."
A bid from Gades for the parts was approved for $54,835. Hammeke Electric will handle the labor for $22,550 for a total project cost of $77,385. The Innovative Technologies Grant will cover more than 75% of the expense, leaving Great Bend’s share at $19,600.
The backup batteries will be installed at all traffic lights along 10th Street, allowing the lights to remain operational even when electricity is knocked out. Batteries will also be used at the Broadway Avenue and Washington intersection and at Broadway and Patton Road.