Arizona Highway Commission Notes

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS Arizona Highway Commission Notes

March 19, 1934 The Arizona State Highway Commission met in special session in their offices in the Highway Building at 10:00 A. M., March 19, 1934. Those present were Chairman Dowell, Vice-Chairman Vyne, Commissioners Addams, Barth and Mansfield, also, the State Engineer, the Secretary and Assistant Attorney General McDougall.

The Secretary read the tentative minutes of February 23, 1934. Commissioner Addams requested that the minutes show him absent from that meeting due to illness and that on Page 3, the sixth paragraph, the eleventh line read "oil surfacing of 98-C and the bids for oil surfacing of Project 98-D will be sent out as soon as it is determined what surfacing is needed on this project." The minutes were approved as amended.

State Engineer O'Connell recommended, subject to the approval of the Bureau of Public Roads, that the contract on the Yuma Gila Bend Highway - U. S. Public Works Project No. N. R. H. 82-B, A. F. E. No. 8043, be awarded to the low bidder, Rogers Bros. and Del E. Webb Construction Company, Phoenix, Arizona in the amount of $26,152.16. It was regularly moved by Commissioner Mansfield, seconded by Commissioner Vyne, and unanimously carried, that the recommendation of the State Engineer be accepted.

State Engineer O'Connell recommended, subject to the approval of the Bureau of Public Roads, that the contract on the Tempe-Mesa Highway-U. S. Public Works Project No. N. R. M. 8-B, A. F. E. No. 515, be awarded to the low bidder, Arizona Sand and Rock Company, Phoenix, in the amount of $24,836.31. It was regularly moved by Commissioner Vyne, seconded by Commissioner Mansfield, and unanimously carried, that the recommendation of the State Engineer be accepted.

State Engineer O'Connell recommended, subject to the approval of the Bureau of Public Roads, that the contract on the Phoenix-Yuma Highway U. S. Public Works Project, No. N. R. H. 56, A. F. E. No. 8035, be awarded to the low bidder, Vinson and Pringle, Phoenix, Arizona, in the amount of $8,833.64. It was regularly moved by Commissioner Mansfield, seconded by Commissioner Vyne, and unanimously carried, that the recommendation of the State Engineer be accepted.

State Engineer O'Connell recommended that, inasmuch as there is only one bid and it is considerably over the estimate and the Bureau of Public Roads will not approve of the contract, the bid on the Benson-Douglas Highway (Tombstone Streets), N. R. M. Project 79-C, A. F. E. 527, be rejected. It was regularly moved by Commissioner Mansfield, seconded by Commissioner Vyne, and unanimously carried, that the recommendation of the State Engineer be accepted and the bid be rejected.

State Engineer O'Connell recommended, subject to the approval of the Bureau of Public Roads, that the contract on the Prescott-Phoenix Highway, N. R. H. Project No. 72-C, (A. F. E. 8955), be awarded to the low bidder, Pearson & Dickerson Contractors, Inc., Phoenix, Arizona, in the amount of $164,694.09. It was regularly moved by Commissioner Vyne, seconded by Commissioner Mansfield, and carried, that the recommendation of the State Engineer be accepted.

A delegation consisting of Messrs. C. W. Peterson and W. K. Bowen, Maricopa County Supervisors; S. McN. Johnston, City Manager of the City of Phoenix; Geo. E. Lilley, Chairman of the Road Committee of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce; Arthur L. Strong, Chairman of the Phoenix Real Estate Board; Charlie Martin, Bartlett Heard, and others, with Mr. Geo. Comparet acting as spokesman, appeared before the Highway Commission. Mr. Comparet read a communication of protest signed by C. W. Peterson, S. McN. Johnston, Geo. E. Lilley, and Arthur L. Strong, protesting any change being made in the construction of Projects 64-A and 64-B, which were set up in the 1933-1934 budget under Maricopa County in the total amount of $246,400.00; and in Project 98-D on which $431,000.00 was set up for the grade, drain and oil surfacing of U. S. Highway 60 from Salome to the Maricopa County Line, and on which a contract has been let for grading and draining, leaving a balance of $158,-729.64 on this project. The communication demanding that this money remain in the budget to be used on Project 96-D and a contract for its oil surfacing be let at an early date, referred to the resolution passed by the Highway Commission wherein it was agreed that U. S. Highway 60, West of Wickenburg to the Colorado River at Ehrenberg, would be finished simultaneously with the Casa Grande-Gila Bend Highway. The communication stated further that as of February 28, 1934, the net over-age of contracts let during the present fiscal year, which were set up in the budget, amounted to $906,227.76 and that, out of this sum, only $27,976.49 had been contracted in Maricopa County; also, that it was believed the Highway Commission intended to transfer funds out of Maricopa County from Projects 64-A and B, and Project 98-D to take care of these overages, and if this were the case and the intention carried through, the Commissioners and State Engineer would be liable for such action on their official bond.

Mr. S. McN. Johnston, City Manager, on speaking to the Commission, stated that an examination made of the budget in January 1934, showed that the amount of contracts let in Maricopa County was 15% of the total amount set up, while in other counties the amount contracted exceeded the amount set up in the budget.

State Engineer O'Connell advised that Project 98-D, Wickenburg-Ehrenberg Highway, will not be ready to call for bids on oiling until the middle of June or July and it is the intention of the Engineering Department to let this contract as soon as possible. Also, that the report of January 20, 1934, covered only those plans on projects which the Department could get ready by April 1st, and Project 98-D could not be ready by that time due to the fact the grading and draining contract would not be completed. He also stated that it is true a lot of the contracts are running over the amount estimated, but at the request of the Commissioners priority had been given to Highways 89 and 66, and every county in the State, with the exception of Gila, Yavapai and Mohave Counties, will have incompleted contracts on account of the contracts running over the estimated amounts. He pointed out that there was nothing in the budget for most of the municipal projects, as this was a requirement made by the Federal Government after the adoption of the 1933-1934 budget.Commissioner Mansfield, speaking to the delegation, stated that he as well as other members of the present Highway Commission was a party to the agree-ment mentioned in regard to the com-pletion of the Casa Grande-Gila Bend Highway and the Wickenburg-Ehren-(Continued on Page 25)