A $117,798.07 bid for a traffic signal at Colony Boulevard has been approved by the Sumter Landing Community Development District.
Florida Safety Contractors Inc. was the successful bidder.
Bids for the traffic signal came in higher than anticipated, District Administrative Operations Manager Diane Tucker told board members Thursday morning.
However, district officials were able to remove items such as paving and landscaping and reduce the pricetag.
The original bid from Florida Safety Contractors Inc. was $170,429.07. A bid of $179,871 was received from American Lighting and Signalization.
The budgeted amount for the project was $129,189.18.
The district will absorb the landscaping and paving for the project rather than have Florida Safety Contractors do that portion of the work. District officials indicated they could get those portions of the project done at a lower price.
The developer has indicated that he would be willing to contribute $100,000 toward the traffic signal installation. Everything over $100,000 is to be paid out of Project Wide Advisory Committee funds.
Sam Wartinbee of District Property Management told board members that Florida Safety Contractors indicated they would need “lead time” of 8 to 12 weeks for the project.
“We are trying to push that up,” Wartinbee said.
The point at which golf carts and vehicular traffic cross on Colony Boulevard have been of great concern over the past several months.
Since late October, Community Watch personnel have been directing traffic out at the site.
At one point, PWAC had voted to build a golf-cart bridge over Colony Boulevard, but that plan was scrapped in favor of the traffic light.