CLEARLAKE — The road rehabilitation project in the City of Clearlake is expected to wrap up this week. The project began April 21 and consists of roadway reconstruction on Lakeshore Drive, Old Highway 53 and a portion of Burns Valley Road.
City Administrator Dale Neiman reported on Tuesday that construction crews are out this week striping, painting crosswalks, finishing shoulder and edging details and raising manhole covers and water valves.
“They did a good job,” Neiman commended. “We hit it at the perfect time.”
Planning for the project began in Spring 2007. The approximate cost of the project is $3.1 million with use of Prop. 1 and State Transportation funds.
The City of Clearlake was the first in the state to receive Prop. 1 funds for infrastructure improvements. According to Neiman, Prop. 1 funds were allocated based on project readiness; and because City Engineer Bob Galusha stayed one step ahead of the game, Clearlake came in first.
The city had used redevelopment bond proceeds to pay for the engineering design work in order to stay ahead of other projects as much as possible. Neiman received word from CalTrans in December 07 that the City of Clearlake would be first to receive Prop. 1 funds.
“Many cities and counties did not receive any money because they didn”t have a project ready in time,” Neiman said. “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.”
Bids for the project went out in February 08. In March, the city council authorized staff to award a bid of $1,321,185 to Central Valley Engineering and Asphalt to rehabilitate parts of Lakeshore Drive, Olympic Drive and Old Highway 53. Awarding of the bid left approximately $1.4 million in the project”s fund; because a portion of the money was allocated through Prop 1 funds, the money had to be used or returned to the state, so the city requested an expansion on the project.
Based on direction from CalTrans, the city revised the project to include road rehabilitation in the area of Burns Valley Road, from the senior/community center to Olympic Drive and Old Highway 53 from Lakeshore Drive to State Route 53.
According to Neiman, the portion of Old Highway 53 between Burns Valley Road and Olympic Drive will be a part of Rite Aid retail store”s current relocation project, which includes the installation of a traffic signal in that area.
Revisions to the road project also stretched paving on Lakeshore Drive out into the Clearlake Park area up to Modoc Street.
Contact Denise Rockenstein at drockenstein@clearlakeobserver.com.
