West St. Paul has awarded a $23 million construction bid for the massive makeover of South Robert Street, paving the way for the first phase of the city’s most expensive public works project to get underway in the spring.

The city council’s unanimous approval of the bid Monday night comes after five years of anticipation and planning — as well as nearly a dozen cost increases and subsequent criticism, including fresh comments made by newly elected Mayor Dave Meisinger before the vote.

Late Wednesday, Meisinger, a vocal opponent of the project who ousted former Mayor John Zanmiller in November, said he planned to use his mayoral authority to officially veto the council’s resolution Thursday morning.

However, Meisinger said he expects the council will then soon call a special session and override his veto and “we’ll be right back where we started.”

Under the city’s charter, Meisinger was not allowed to vote on the bid award to Eureka Construction, a Lakeville business that last month submitted the lowest construction proposal during a second round of bids.

But that did not stop Meisinger from voicing his opposition to the project Monday, saying the city would be “foolish” to proceed with it.

“I cannot with a good conscience support the substantial tax increase associated with this project,” he said.

According to tax impact estimates the city compiled this month, the two-phase project — currently estimated at $38.7 million — will cost the owner of a house with a tax value of $160,000 an additional $173.63 annually over the life of a 15-year bond.

Meanwhile, a commercial property owner with a tax value of $500,000 will see an additional $889.38 in taxes each year.

Meisinger said West St. Paul is paying too much to reconstruct South Robert, a state road that “we don’t own or even have control of.”

He pointed out that the city is now pledging to chip in about $15.4 million for the project’s first phase — mostly through the issuance of bonds — and that the state’s financial share is $5.6 million.

“South Robert is not a parkway or a boulevard,” he said. “It’s a state highway.”

Council member Ed Iago, while acknowledging that he shares some of Meisinger’s concerns, said he supports the project because of the street’s deteriorating condition and because the city “has hit the point of no return on this.”

“We have to do something with the street,” he said. “It’s a minefield out there.”

Jump-started by a $7 million federal transportation grant, planning began in 2010 to fix the look, functionality and safety of the busy, 2 1/2-mile commercial corridor between Mendota Road and Annapolis Street.

The first phase calls for building landscaped center medians; adding two lanes north of Butler Street by removing on-street parking; and replacing the road’s aging pavement, storm sewer infrastructure, traffic-control signals and streetlights.

But the project has had several setbacks. From the get-go, some business owners have raised a variety of concerns — the most persistent being that the median will cut off accesses by allowing only right turns along most of the street.

Meanwhile, the project’s overall price tag has nearly quadrupled from the original $10.3 million cost because of underestimates, added features and delays. The construction phase, which is slated to begin in April, is estimated at $32.1 million. The proposed second phase — building sidewalks and planting boulevard trees — totals $6.6 million.

The project also faces a $3.4 million funding shortfall, which the city is on the hook to try to fill.

Council member Dave Napier pointed out Monday that Rep. Rick Hansen and Sen. Jim Metzen are pushing for an additional $8 million in state money for the project.

But Meisinger said Wednesday that the odds of getting the money “are about zero.”

“Why would (the state) give us more money when the council has now agreed to pick up close to half the cost,” he said. “We’ve showed them our trump card.”

Nick Ferraro can be reached at 651-228-2173. Follow him at twitter.com/NFerraroPiPress.