CLEARLAKE — The City of Clearlake is ready to embark on a street rehabilitation project that has been in the works since Spring 2007. Thanks to the tenacity and perseverance of City Engineer Bob Galusha, Clearlake was the first to receive Prop. 1 funds, which are being supplemented with State Transportation funds for a total project cost of approximately $3.1 million.
Reconstruction on Lakeshore Drive, Old Highway 53 and a portion of Burns Valley Road will begin on Monday, April 21. The project is expected for completion in August. Work will be performed by Central Valley Paving & Asphalt of Roseville.
Clearlake City Administrator Dale Neiman announced in December 2007 that the city was the first to receive Prop. 1 funds for infrastructure improvements. Neiman attributed the city”s good fortune to the tenacity and perseverance of City Engineer Bob Galusha, who he had said worked proactively to secure the $1.5 million in Prop. 1 funds by keeping one step ahead of the competition.
“This is one-time bond money and the money was allocated based on the readiness of the projects,” Neiman had reported in December. “As you know, we used some of the Redevelopment bond proceeds to pay for the engineering design work in order to be ahead of everyone else as much as possible. I was told by Caltrans we were the very first project approved by them in the entire state because of our readiness. Many cities and counties did not receive any money because they didn”t have a project ready in time. If we didn”t, we would not have received the money.
“Bob did an excellent job in putting the project together and the risk we took with doing the engineering design work prior to receiving the grant paid off,” Neiman had told the council.
Galusha reportedly began preparing the application for the project last spring as well as the engineering design work. The project was ready for bid in February 2008. It will consist of grinding down the pavement and applying and overlay, similar to the work done several years ago in front of the post office on Olympic Drive. It will also include rehabilitation in compliance with American Disability Act (ADA) standards.
According to a press release recently issued by the city, there will be road closures and traffic controlled by flagmen. During road closures, the public will have alternate routes to access their homes. There will be advance signs and hand-out flyers with work and traffic information that will detail dates, times and durations of any closures.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com.
