Update on train station project

What's the status of the Elizabethtown Train Station project? WGAL's Meredith Jorgensen did a great update story on July 8.

In the meantime, here are the details:

Bids were opened about two weeks ago, and the apparent low bidder is Lobar Construction of Dillsburg, with a bid of $5.9 million. That's nearly $2 million less than what the borough, Amtrak and PennDOT were estimating. Because the project is being funded with federal stimulus money, the borough will likely return a balance of the money so the government can allocate it to other projects.

At the moment, borough staff and PennDOT are discussing how much the borough needs for contingency funds and to address alternate bids, one of which potentially can lower the cost of the project. Borough Manager Pete Whipple said PennDOT and the borough should complete those talks in time for Borough Council to make an official recommendation by its July 16 meeting.

If all goes well, work could begin next month.