Times staff
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
LAND O'LAKES — Construction should start up again soon on the extension of Collier Parkway, a project left unfinished late last year after the contractor walked away from it.
Pasco commissioners on Wednesday approved a new agreement with the surety company, which has hired Tampa-based Ripa & Associates to finish building the 1.8-mile road linking Collier to Parkway Boulevard.
Officials expect the work to be finished in about 210 days. About $2.5 million worth of work remains.
WDG Construction won the $4.3 million job in April 2009 and was supposed to finish by May of this year. But the firm stopped working on the project last December, leaving a half-finished job. Commissioners fired WDG in February. Since then, county attorneys have been negotiating the agreement with the surety.
The agreement approved Wednesday leaves the county on the hook for no extra costs beyond what it originally agreed to pay WDG for the work, said assistant county attorney Jane Fagen. The county agreed not to seek liquidated damages if the project comes in on time.