The city of Redmond expects to discuss possible changes to the Sixth Street construction project today with representatives from the Oregon Department of Transportation and High Desert Paving, the project contractor.

The contract for the 12-block project calls for one lane to remain open at all times, with completion scheduled for October.

But High Desert approached the city with an alternative recently, according to City Engineer Mike Caccavano, that would speed up completion of the four-block section closest to Sixth Street’s shopping corridor.

Closing both lanes of Sixth could shave nearly a month off the completion time for that section, according to High Desert estimates. But when Caccavano approached the Redmond City Council and Sixth Street business owners with the idea, reactions were mixed. Councilors asked him to approach the contractor and ODOT with the idea of adding double shifts to the project, to speed it up even more.

As contract administrator — the $6 million project is being paid for primarily with ODOT funds — ODOT decides on contract changes, said Peter Murphy, public information officer for ODOT Region 4. But he sees the agency’s role not so much as saying yes or no but as finding ways to make it happen.

Who pays for change orders that might push the project beyond its contracted amount is unclear at this time, Murphy said.

“I haven’t had the conversation with the council yet about how much it could cost the city to do a change order,” said Caccavano.

Today’s meeting, which was previously scheduled, was expected to provide more information on the project budget, with the goal of making a decision by next week.

— From staff reports