Traffic on U.S. Highway 281 North. Photo by John Albright

One of the three teams that planned to bid on the U.S. Highway 281 North toll road project has dropped out of the competition because compensation for losing bidders wasn’t enough to cover up-front costs.

Texas Sterling Construc-tion Co. withdrew from the project on Dec. 12.

“The project size grew and the real estate complexity increased without a corresponding increase in stipend,” said Sterling’s Vice President, Brian Manning.

The Alamo Regional Mobility Authority board approved in October paying bidders who do not win the project contract up to $200,000, or .1 percent of the total project cost, to compensate them for costs associated with bidding.

In a recent ARMA meeting, board members unanimously approved increasing the compensation for losing bidders, from $200,000 to up to $395,000, or .1 percent of the total project cost.

Cibolo Creek Infrastruc-ture and Zachary Construc-tion Corp. will now compete for the U.S. 281 toll road contract. Their proposals are due to the ARMA on Feb. 28, and on March 12, the board will select one team, and the other will receive the stipend.

ARMA Spokesman Leroy Alloway said the increase in the stipend reflected an increase in the overall project, as the plans for tolling U.S. 281 now extend from Loop 1604 north to the Comal County line.

Last week, the board unanimously approved increasing the stipend to the lesser amount of $395,000 or .1 percent of the total project cost if bidders are responsible for right-of-way acquisitions; or the lesser of $325,000 or .1 percent of the total project cost if the ARMA adopts responsibility for the acquisitions.

ARMA Executive Director Terry Brechtel said the Texas Turnpike Authority and Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority have both awarded stipends to losing bidders on similar projects.

As it currently stands, the bidding teams are responsible for acquiring right-of-way, which Brechtel said she estimates will cost $70 million. However, the ARMA may amend the bidder’s instructions and assume responsibility for the acquisitions themselves, in an attempt to speed up the process yet again.

“We need to get the right-of-way underway,” Brechtel said, adding that there were about 37 parcels of land that must be acquired in order to construct the toll road.