Douglas County leaders expect to get another price break on a road construction project.

Commissioners on Monday morning authorized the public works department to seek bids on repaving one half-mile of County Road 1057 west of Eudora.

The section is between County Road 442 and Kansas Highway 10, which accommodates truck traffic from the East Hills Business Park.

Douglas County Public Works Director Keith Browning told commissioners Monday he now estimated construction would cost $366,544, down from a previous estimate from $526,906.

Originally, Browning recommended putting off the project until next year because the county needs to repair two bridges. However, recently the county received bids from contractors that were much lower than expected on a separate project, County Road 438, known as the Farmers’ Turnpike.

Because of the economic downturn, contractors seem to be hungrier for work, which has driven down construction costs, county officials have said.

“The point is, we think we would be saving the county a very significant amount of money,” said Browning, who is also the county engineer.

The county had allocated $450,000 for the resurfacing project of County Road 1057.

County commissioners on Monday also approved plans for conducting the Ironman 70.3 Kansas triathlon, which will be June 14 at Clinton State Park.