West Mission work imminent

During the San Diego County Board of Supervisors’ January 10 meeting, the supervisors unanimously approved the advertisement for bid and authorization of a subsequent award for a contract to construct the widening and other improvements of West Mission Road between Main Avenue and South Mission Road.

Between Main Avenue and Pico Avenue/De Luz Road the widening will provide two westbound through lanes, a westbound right-turn lane, one eastbound through lane, and a median left-turn lane. The section between Pico/De Luz and South Mission will be widened to two westbound through lanes, one eastbound through lane, and a left-turn lane.

“We believe that it will improve traffic flow significantly,” said county Department of Public Works project manager Steve Ron.

The work will also provide new sidewalks on the south side of Mission Road. The widening will require the removal of two houses on the north side of Mission Road, and a new sidewalk north of the road will also be installed. In 2001 the supervisors had approved an Underground Utility District for the area which called for undergrounding of the utilities concurrent with the road construction, and the January 10 action also authorizes undergrounding agreements with San Diego Gas & Electric, AT&T, and Adelphia Communications in which the utilities will reimburse the county for the contractor’s undergrounding work.

The contract will also complete the final part of Phase I of the Mission Road improvements, which covered the segment between Winterhaven Road and Peppertree Lane. One of the right-of-way agreements involved during Phase I included constructing a sound wall at the southwest corner of Winterhaven Road and South Mission Road at a later date, and the current work will erect that sound wall.

Other than the sound wall, Phase I was completed in March 2001. Phase II, which covered Peppertree Lane to Ammunition Road, was completed in September 2006. The original Phase III was to have covered Winterhaven Road to State Route 76, although more studies will be necessary before the Department of Public Work programs any phases south of Winterhaven Road and the project covering the portion between Hill Avenue and Main Avenue has been renamed Phase III.

In March 2004 an environmental Negative Declaration, which indicated that the project would not have a significant environmental impact, was adopted. Because that Negative Declaration did not include the sound wall, an addendum was prepared and that addendum was certified by the supervisors during the January 10 action.

The supervisors also appropriated $950,000 of TransNet funds, derived from the half-cent sales tax approved by the county’s voters in November 1987, for the project. The $1,294,615 total amount appropriated for the project also included $277,000 from San Diego Gas & Electric, $45,527 from AT&T, and $22,088 from Adelphia Communications. The $950,000 construction cost exclusive of the undergrounding includes contingency allowances.

Although all right-of-way acquisition has been completed, one of the property owners requested that the county not commence work on his property until escrow for the purchase of the easements is closed. The construction contract will not be awarded until after the close of that escrow, although the contract can be advertised for bid prior to the close of escrow.

The construction work is scheduled to begin in March 2007 and be completed by September 2007. “We hope it goes smoothly, and we’ll try to minimize any inconvenience,” Ron said.