Supervisors approve change order for Osborne Street work

The County of San Diego has approved a change order in the contract with Ramona Paving and Construction Corporation to lower the hill on Osborne Street east of Hutchison Street.

A 5-0 San Diego County Board of Supervisors vote June 25 authorized the director of the county’s Department of Public Works to approve the contract change order which involves a City of Oceanside water line. The approval of the change order also authorized expenditures of up to an additional $150,000 beyond the $536,358 original contract amount.

The supervisors’ original approval for the advertisement for bids and award of the contract took place on October 17, 2007. The supervisors’ previous action also authorized the director of the county’s Department of Public Works to execute agreements with the appropriate utilities whose facilities would be relocated as part of the construction project.

The vertical curve of the hill east of Hutchison Street has limited motorists’ sight distance on Osborne Street, and the purpose of the construction project is to enhance the sight distance. The project will lower the hill by seven feet between the intersection and approximately 500 feet east of Hutchison Street. The project will also relocate the utilities affected by the construction.

The Bonsall intersection is approximately one-quarter of a mile from the Oceanside city limits and one-eighth of a mile from the Vista city limits. The area is in the Vista Irrigation District, which had agreed to contribute $50,000 for the utility relocation effort, and the City of Oceanside’s Water Utilities Department originally provided $390,764 for utility relocation expenses.

The remainder of the original $1,440,764 appropriation was derived from a California Department of Transportation $750,000 Hazard Elimination System program grant and from a $250,000 available balance in the county’s Road Fund.

The original project schedule called for construction to begin in December 2007 and be complete in April 2008. Bids were opened on November 29, 2007, a contract for $536,358 was awarded to Ramona Paving and Construction Corporation on December 28, 2007, and construction began in March 2008. The project is currently considered to be 50 percent complete and is now scheduled for completion in August 2008.

After construction began, the City of Oceanside imposed additional requirements for the relocation of the existing pipeline facilities. The requirements were not included in the original construction contract, so a change order was required to add that work. The city has agreed to reimburse the county for the additional work.

The original plan was for the City of Oceanside to shut down the existing 24-inch water line at the nearest valves several hundred feet away from the work location, which would allow for the installation of the new line at a lower elevation. During the construction, the city required that the existing line be capped near the work location and that several joints in the line be welded to prevent damage.

The utility work is scheduled to be performed during a planned eight-week road closure and traffic detour. Because the originally-budgeted amount included contingency appropriations, as well as administration costs and other expenses in addition to the contract, the additional $150,000 for Ramona Paving and Construction Corporation will initially be funded from the available contingency so that no funding-related delays on the project will occur.

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