By Mike W. Ray
Southwest Ledger
An agreement authorizing reconstruction of a road leading to School House Slough, and payment of the final invoice on a boat storage facility at Robinson’s Landing, were approved Tuesday by the Lawton City Council. Consulting engineers with WSB have designed several pavement and parking lot improvements for the northern- most driveway leading to the Lake Lawtonka Public Recreation Area from State Highway 58. Chris Serrano, WSB’s director of municipal services, said the scope of work will include widening and reconstructing the half-mile access road to School House Slough, on the eastern shore of Lake Lawtonka, from asphalt to 6-inch thick concrete.
The project also will include bank stabilization, pavement design for parking areas within the park, installation of a storm sewer at road crossings, and grading improvements to promote proper drainage, according to Lawton Public Works Director Rusty Whisenhunt. A permit from the Oklahoma Department of Transportation was required to allow the City of Lawton to modify the lake road, because it provides access to the state highway system, Serrano explained. WSB has finished its design work on the access road project and will present its final plans to the city staff next week, Serrano told Southwest Ledger on Thursday. After they have been reviewed the accepted, the plans will be presented to the City Council.
The City Council also voted to pay the $13,000 outstanding balance on a contract with Avery Construction of Kingston for construction of a dry stall structure at Robinson’s Landing on the north end of Lake Lawtonka. Avery was the lowest of three bidders for the job and was awarded the contract on April 14. However, because of “funding limitations,” a change order reduced the number of boat storage units from 20 to 16, Engineering Director Michael Jones noted. That, in turn, trimmed the price tag by $47,500, to $260,000. Additionally, the original estimated completion date of Oct. 1 was shortened by more than a month.