Road work ahead in Colusa County

As warm weather approaches, municipal, county and state governments will move forward with road projects in Colusa County.

Public Works crews are taking advantage of the break in the weather to busy themselves with shoulder work, filling potholes, repairing sidewalks pruning trees.

“We’re in maintenance mode right now,” said Colusa County Public Works Director Loren Clifton.

But as spring and summer approaches, a number of major road projects will be under way around the county.

Mike Azevedo, Colusa County public words maintenance supervisor, said the county will be using direct bond money to do overlay work on county roads in Princeton, Maxwell, Grimes and Arbuckle. The project is estimated to cost about $587,000.

The county will also oversee contracted work to replace three culverts in the Princeton area of Norman Road, over the Provident Canal. The estimated cost is $209,000, also funded by Proposition 1B – a transportation funding measure passed by the voters in 2006.

Last year, Colusa County received approximately $2.1 million in bond funding, which was primarily spent to refurbish the Maxwell-Colsua Highway and Dry Slough Road, between Arbuckle and Grimes.

Late this spring or early summer, bond money will be used to complete four chip seal projects on Paradise Road in the vicinity of Princeton, Lone Star Road, Colusa, Harbison Road, Colusa, and Sachreiter Road, north of Grimes-Arbuckle Road. The total cost is about $263,000.

“We have enough projects to keep us busy for a while,” Azevedo said.

That’s good news for the county, Azevedo said, as additional bond funding due the county is being withheld as the state deals with its budget crisis.

“We won’t get that money until the state authorizes the sale of more bonds,” he said. “We don’t know when that will be.”

The county, however, does expect about $266,000 from the recent federal stimulus package, possibly more. 

“We’re still going back and forth on the exact amount, but we are assured we will receive an additional amount,” Azevedo said.

The strings?

Azevedo said only certain roads in Colusa County are eligible, the bids must be competitive, and disadvantaged businesses will have priority.

The county plans use the money for a maintenance chip seal project on Grimes-Arbuckle/Dry Slough Road area.

County road work is also scheduled on Norman Road, using funds available under an existing federal program unrelated to state bond money or the stimulus package.

Colusa

City crews are taking advantage of clear weather to do general maintenance work and sidewalk repairs. No major road construction projects are underway, but Public Works Director Patty Hickel said the city will soon receive about $100,000i funding from the recent federal stimulus package. The money can only be used on federal designated projects and streets, Hickel said. In Colusa, only Fifth and Fremont streets are eligible for stimulus money.

“Fremont is a school route, so it would be a good place to consider installing bike lanes,” Hickel said.

The City Council is expected to discuss the stimulus funding and designate a project at its regular meeting Tuesday.

Williams

City crews are also in general maintenance mode, which include general street repairs, tree pruning as needed and filling potholes. Public Works Director Wes Goforth said no major road construction projects are immediately scheduled.

State

Caltrans will complete the replacement of Bear Creek Bridge on Highway 20, about 20 miles west of Williams, with a 1,200-meter section of the roadway reconstructed along a new alignment. The project will widen travel lanes, add 8- to 10-foot shoulders and 3-foot-wide shoulder backings. Caltrans, in its environmental study, said the projects will improve safety for the traveling public with no negative impacts on the environment. The original wood-framed bridge was built in 1930. The $400 million project will be completed in 2010.

Caltrans will also do a chip seal of Highway 45 in Colusa this summer and other chip seal repairs where needed.

Caltrans is now working to stabilize the slope at the interchange of southbound Interstate 5 and Highway 20. Caltrans spokeswoman Kari Ehrman said dozens of old Eucalyptus trees have been removed so that metal stakes can be implanted into the slope to prevent debris and ground slippage. The Highway 20 project utilizes about $9 million in federal stimulus funds, according to Caltrans.

“It’s sort of an interesting project,” Ehrman said. “Once the stabilization work is completed, the area will be replanted with native oak trees.”