AMSTERDAM - The Route 30 road expansion project may take a bit more money to complete than originally expected due to soft soils.
New York State Department of Transportation Region Two Public Information Officer Alice Romanych said the DOT recently discovered softer soil in a field intended to relocate Log City Road.
"The trouble with soil samples is you can get a different reading 10 feet away," Romanych said.
The plan will relocate a quarter-mile section of Log City Road to make a four-way intersection with Maple Avenue and Route 30. A new traffic light will be installed to ease traffic problems turning onto, and off of, Route 30.
The construction company Lancaster Development out of Cobleskill is doing the work, and Romanych said they will now have to excavate the site deeper to find more stable soil to build the new road on.
This will increase the cost of this portion of the project, but Romanych said she isn't yet certain what the cost will come to.
The discovery should not change the $9.8 million price tag on the project, though, because the projected price includes money for the highest possible costs, Romanych said.
"[Some] costs may come in lower than expected and others will cost more, this happens with construction all the time," she said.
The state, federal government, town and county all are putting money into the relocation of the road.
The Route 30 project is the biggest going on the tri-county area.
Crews will install power poles from Wallins Corners to Log City Road. New water and sewer pipes extending from the city also are set to be installed with help from the town of Amsterdam and Montgomery County.
These new water pipes are crucial to some new development including the Comfort Inn and Suites on Maple Avenue being developed by city resident Joseph Giardino, officials have said.
The project was designed to address safety and traffic issues on the road which is ever expanding with commercial development.
To accommodate this change, the project also will widen the road and install new sidewalks from the city to the commercial center south of Miami Avenue.
Turning lanes will be added to the intersections south of Log City Road, and a center turning lane will be added to the north side.
"We're adding turning lanes at the intersection to make easier travel in the commercial areas," Romanych said.
Even with the news of the soil trouble, Romanych said the entire project still is expected to be completed by the Fall of 2009.
Kerry McAvoy covers Montgomery County. She can be reached at montco@leaderherald.com.