A historical district street sign replacement project in Jennings is on hold after bids for the project came in too high.

Mayor Henry Guinn said the city was planning to start the project this fall, but bids have come in 50 percent over what was budgeted for the project.

“We had $400,000 budgeted and the low bid was $687,000, so we are working with the engineering firm to review that project,’ Guinn said.

The city council had allocated $650,000 in this year’s budget to change all the street signs in the city, he said.

“When we really put these numbers under the microscope we were not happy with what we saw so we want to work with the engineering firm to regroup and put the project back out to bid and hopefully get some competitive numbers,” Guinn said.

Under the plan, the historical downtown district will receive ornamental black, decorative street signs similar to those in Woodworth. Areas outside the historic district are slated to also receive new street signs.

However, Guinn said this week that city officials will have to go back to the drawing board to figure out what is driving the costs up. He said the contractor was charging more to remove the old poles than install new ones.

“We will have to work with our engineering team and look at the specs and regroup to see what is driving the price increase, then put the project back out for bid in September,” he said.

He hopes to award a new bid for the project next month so that the city can adopt a street sign project that works and increases the aesthetics  of the city

“Our goal is to have the entire city complete by the end of the fiscal year  pending prices and the inflationary prices that we are up against,” Guinn said.

In other matters, the city is moving forward on a street improvement project after the bids came in under budget.

The city accepted a $3.9 million bid from Elliot Construction of Grand Coteau for the project. The bid is well under the $4.5 million the city had proposed for the project, Guinn said.

Funding for the project is being provided by the city’s general fund revenues.

The project calls for the overlay and repairs of 27 streets including 11th Street, 12th Street, 13th Street, North Church Street, North State Street, North Main Street, Gaynel Street, Williams Street, Magnolia Drive, Comfort Lane, Acadian Drive, Royale Drive, High Line Drive, Florence Street, May Street, Greenwood Drive, East Academy Avenue, River Oak Drive, River View Drive, Cassidy Drive, Ruland Street, Dubois Street, East Nezpique Street, Louise Street, Shine Alley, Short Street and Touchet Road.

Unless there was a concern for public safety, Guinn said the city selected the oldest routes to do first.

Since the project is under budget, Guinn said the city will have some money to address problems that may have been overlooked in selecting the streets.

Resident Angela Lehman urged the city to revise the street project to include streets with potholes and washouts that are not being maintained.

The construction and widening of Racca Road is expected to be included in next year’s fiscal budget.