The race is on to get a bid for the first downtown pieces of the Iowa Confluence Water Trails project whittled down before a deadline to spend federal funds allocated for the project.

Project organizers received a $73 million bid from United Contractors and Reilly Construction Co. for a package of four projects at key sites in downtown Des Moines. That was more than double the $31.25 million the Des Moines Register previously reported planners expected to spend. No bids were submitted during a first round of bid letting late last year.

Gunnar Olson, spokesperson for the Des Moines Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, which began planning for the water trails project in 2015, said in an email that the outsized bid was “not completely surprising given the current bidding conditions,” but added that the MPO “cannot accept the bid and is therefore rejecting the bid.”

To read the full article, visit the Des Moines Register.