[June 17, 2011] Roundabout delayed Tweet CHEYENNE, Jun 17, 2011 (Wyoming Tribune-Eagle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Right-of-way complications will delay the start date on a $6.5 million roundabout project at the Pershing Boulevard/Converse Avenue/19th Street intersection. The project was set to go under construction this summer or fall but now it will wait until next spring. Mayor Rick Kaysen announced the delay on Thursday during his monthly news conference. The delay is due to ongoing negotiations with the owners of the Cole Shopping Center and the former Hollywood Video store. The Wyoming Department of Transportation is representing the city in the talks with the property owners. WYDOT made offers for the right-of-way in April. The owners have 65 days to respond, and those deadlines are a week or two away. Assistant city engineer Nathan Beauheim would not release the amount of money that has been offered for the right-of-way. He also refused to release the appraised value of the right-of-way, saying it is not a public record. The city has budgeted about $350,000 to buy the two pieces of right-of-way. If the property owners fail to respond within 65 days of the offers being made, they can't argue in court that the city did not try good-faith negotiations, Beauheim said. He added that the city would be successful if it has to use eminent domain to acquire the property. Neither one of the owners has given a formal response to WYDOT's offers, Beauheim said. He would not comment on whether he thinks they have been cooperative in the negotiations. When determining the value of the right-of-way, the loss of property value is taken into account, Beauheim said. For instance, about a third of the Hollywood Video parking lot is needed. Losing that parking space could hurt the value of the site. Only about 537 square feet of Cole Shopping Center's landscaping is needed. Beauheim said it is difficult to say whether the cost of the project will go up as a result of the delay. Construction costs are difficult to predict, he said. But one consequence of the delay is that motorists will have to keep driving on damaged streets for a while longer, he added. Other than the roundabout construction, the project also includes reconstructing Pershing Boulevard between Converse and Rayor avenues and repaving Pershing Boulevard between Rayor and Dunn avenues. Kaysen said he is confident an agreement can be reached in time to start the project next spring. The company 19th and Converse LLC of Colorado Springs, Colo., owns the former Hollywood Video site. Local resident Frank Cole owns the Cole Shopping Center. Neither of the owners could be reached for comment. The road project is being funded with $3 million in federal grants, $2.3 million from the fifth-penny sales tax and $1.2 million from the Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities. Kaysen said it is not unusual for a project of this size to be delayed. To see more of Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.wyomingnews.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, Cheyenne Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]