NYSDOT opened six bids Feb. 26 for contract D265712, pavement maintenance on NY Route 304 in the Town of Clarkstown, Rockland County. Yonkers Contracting Company Inc. was low at $18,877,285.00. Grace Industries LLC was second at $19,787,583.00, $910,298 back, a 4.82% gap.

The rest of the field: ELQ Industries Inc. $23,777,841.00; Crisdel Group Inc. $25,459,061.51; JRCRUZ Corp. $25,672,678.20; Kyle Conti Construction LLC $25,997,799.00. Low to high the spread is 37.72%, and the median is $24,618,451.26. The top two were close; the next four were bunched $4.9 million to $7.1 million higher.

NYSDOT does not print an engineer's estimate with its letting results. The public yardstick is the state's Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which carries a construction line for each project. For PIN 815518, the STIP lists the job as "PMI Corridor Paving: Route 304," resurfacing from West Nyack Road to Route 9W with minor drainage improvements where feasible. It carries $15.0 million for construction ($17.55 million total project cost). Yonkers' low is $3,877,285 over that line, 25.85%. All six bids were over it.

The contract is a federal-aid job in Region 8. NYSDOT's tabulation calls it "Corridor Paving Rte 304: Rockland County." The advertisement listed a bid deposit of 5% of bid and a DBE goal of 0%. The proposal sets a completion date of July 31, 2027. Our board carries it as RFI-002563.

The result lands three weeks after Region 8's Feb. 5 letting, where Grace Industries took I-287 in Westchester at 7.40% under its STIP construction line. Several of the same firms bid both jobs: Grace, Yonkers, ELQ and JRCRUZ. On Route 304 they all priced over the state's number.

Why this matters. A low bid 26% over the state's construction number means NYSDOT has to cover the difference or rethink the job before award. On a 2026 paving program built on a record budget, how the department handles overruns like this one sets the tone for the rest of the season's Hudson Valley paving lettings.

What to do next. The apparent low is not an award, and an overrun this size is the kind of gap that gets reviewed before a contract is signed. Milling, trucking, concrete-repair, drainage and striping subs should price to Yonkers Contracting, but keep an eye on whether the department awards, rescopes or rebids. The itemized unit prices are posted on NYSDOT's bid-tabulations page.

Update, Sept. 28, 2026: In a March 11 column, the Town of Clarkstown said NYSDOT would start Route 304 work, West Nyack Road to Route 9W, in spring 2026, with most of it done overnight. The town described the scope as milling, warm-mix asphalt resurfacing, and concrete, marking and drainage repairs, and put the Route 304 figure at $16 million. The town did not name a contractor (source: clarkstown.gov, March 11, 2026).