Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette A view of the parking deck across from the old Wells Fargo building. Repairs on the deck have been deferred, causing the need for work this year.

HOUGHTON — The Houghton City Council approved a pair of sidewalk construction and parking deck repair bids at its meeting Wednesday.

The council approved a $248,984.58 bid from Robert E. Johnson for the parking deck repair project, as well as a bid of $104,152.34 from Portage Lake Construction for the construction of sidewalks on Upland and Fairview roads.

The city will split the cost equally with Michigan Technological University. The most recent city budget included $60,000 from Tech for adding sidewalks to the streets, which are off of MacInnes Drive. The budget came in slightly under the estimated construction budget, Waara said.

The parking deck work will include repairs to decks on Portage and Isle Royale streets. The city had carried some fund balance over from the previous year.

The city had also bid out work on the Lakeshore Drive and Quincy Street decks. However, Waara said, the city took on the projects in order of need.

“The (Quincy Street) deck down by the Ambassador is a little bit newer and in relatively decent shape, where the one off of Montezuma behind U.P. Engineers (Architects) and the one across from the old Wells Fargo definitely have some deferred maintenance needs,” he said.