Anchorage weighs a five-year road-sweeping contract for Eagle River

The Anchorage Assembly decides Tuesday who will sweep the road shoulders across Chugiak, Birchwood and Eagle River for the next five years.

Two companies bid, and the difference between them was steep. Big Bear offered to do a year of the work for about $594,000; the only other bidder, Smithsons, came in at $945,500 for the same job. State law requires these contracts go to the lowest qualified bidder, and the city's public works department found both bids sound, so it's recommending Big Bear, at up to $2.97 million if all five years are exercised.

The work covers spring, summer and fall sweeping across hundreds of miles of shoulder in a rural road district formed in 1985, where private contractors handle the maintenance the borough would otherwise do. Beyond appearances, the sweeping keeps grit and pollutants out of storm drains and creeks.