Increasing costs are creating challenges for Hammond's American Rescue Plan projects. Last fall, the city council approved a list of projects totaling almost $39 million. But Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. told council members Monday that costs have gone up by about $9.6 million from those initial estimates.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but when you think about it, I don't think anybody's too shocked because when you're paying five-dollars-plus for gas, a lot of our projects, you know, the materials that get here — they're all skyrocketing in costs, so everything's different," McDermott said.
He said the city's share of a new pedestrian bridge over Calumet Avenue went from $3.5 million to $5.3 million, while the Hohman and Kennedy Avenue reconstruction projects each went from $5 million to about $6.5 million. One of the sharpest increases was the reconstruction of J.F. Mahoney Drive, which quadrupled to $1.7 million.
The mayor said he has some ideas on how to cover the cost overruns, but he wasn't ready to share them publicly. He noted that Hammond has a second round of federal American Rescue Plan funds that hasn't been spent yet.