Acme Concrete Paving Inc., of Spokane, is the apparent low bidder, with a bid of $1.5 million, for a city of Spokane project to replace two asphalt intersections on Francis Avenue, at Addison and Nevada streets, with concrete.

The city hasn't decided if it will accept the bids, however, because the lowest bid was almost 15 percent higher than the engineer's estimate for the project, says Ann Deasy, a city street department spokeswoman. City engineers cite high costs for materials such as steel as a major reason the bids came in higher than expected, Deasy says.

The work is to include replacing the aging asphalt at those intersections with concrete, replacing the traffic signals, adding left turn signals from Addison onto Francis, and extending the length of left-turn lanes on Addison and Nevada. It also will include replacing sidewalks at the northwest corner of Francis and Addison and at the northeast and southwest corners of Francis and Nevada, she says. The two intersections are about a half-mile apart.

The project would be paid for with a combination of the 10-year Spokane street bond and by the Spokane Transit Authority, Deasy says. Work will begin late next spring if the project goes ahead on schedule, she says. Each intersection is expected to take 30 days to complete, and the Francis and Nevada intersection would be done first, she says.

Throughout the work on both intersections, there would be periodic lane closures on Francis, Deasy says. During the work at Francis and Nevada, traffic on Nevada would be detoured to Crestline Street via Wellesley Avenue and Lincoln Road, she says.

Once the Francis and Nevada intersection is done, work at Francis and Addison would begin. During that work, traffic on Addison would be detoured to Division Street via Central and Lyons avenues.