Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Foresthill Road repairs an uphill battle
By: Gus Thomson, Journal Staff Writer
Work to repair a slide-damaged section of Foresthill Road is due to start Sept. 5 but it's turning into a larger project than initially envisioned -- both in cost and length of time to complete.
Bids were opened Monday on the contract to repair two sections of the road between Auburn and Foresthill, east of Drivers Flat Road. The road failed after the embankment under it gave way.
The lowest bid is for $2.45 million and if no appeals or problems with the bid develop by next week, a contract could be signed that would allow work to begin early next month.
Initial estimates after the spring slide were that the cost for repairing the road could reach $2 million or more and that the work could be completed this year.
Peter Kratz, Public Works Department deputy director, said the repairs will now stretch into late spring of 2007. Since the initial embankment failure, more cracks have appeared along the road, raising public concerns and requiring continual monitoring of the slide site, he said.
"The contractor will get as much done this season as possible," Kratz said. "Time is of the essence and the we get done this fall, the better off we'll be."
Supervisor Bruce Kranz, whose district takes in Foresthill, said constituents will be pleased to know the road will remain open during repairs and that work is set to start.
"Repairs to this roadway have been a priority for the county," Kranz said. "I'm pleased that the work will begin soon and the road will remain open to residents, visitors and any emergency vehicles that need to get in or out of the area."
Foresthill Road is the main, paved roadway in and out of Foresthill. Rerouting of traffic lanes has allowed two lanes to remain open since slides began to eat the roadway away. Kratz said there will be times when traffic will be down to one-lane during periods of construction work.
Tests this summer indicated rain soaking into the soil and poor soil conditions contributed to slide conditions.
Work will entail digging down 15 feet below the base of the slope to original soil and rebuilding the failed section of roadway. An underground drainage system will be installed under the road and on the bank above. Improvements will also be made to areas adjacent to the slide areas to help ensure there are no future failures.
The county is asking the federal government to pay for costs of repairs, which were estimated to total $3.08 million before bids were received Monday. The estimate for the repair contract was $2.8 million - $400,000 more than the lowest bid. Kratz said a second bid was received at $2.45 million. Funds would come from the Federal Emergency Relief Fund for Federally Owned Roads.
Slide damage would have no impact on work now taking place by planners in the Community Development Resource Department on both the revised Foresthill Community Plan and Forest Ranch environmental documentation. Planning assistant director Loren Clarke said that traffic impact calculations for the Forest Ranch project are now taking place to reflect an option that would add 1,700 residences to property already zoned for about 540 homes. The Forest Ranch project environmental analysis and the Community Plan, with and without a Forest Ranch expansion option, are both targeted for public hearings.
No time frame for hearings has yet been set, Clarke said. Timing is contingent on completion of technical reports and updates, he said.
The Journal's Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com.