Hwy. 12 bids due April 23

The Highway 12 sidewalks and streetlights project is another step closer to reality as the project went out for bids the last week in March.

The bids are due back to the clerk of the board of supervisors by April 23. At that time, the county’s director of public works will review the bids and refer them to the board of supervisors to consider awarding the project within 90 days of bid opening.

The project, between Boyes Boulevard and Agua Caliente Road, calls for road widening, curbs, gutters, traffic striping, traffic signals, sidewalks and streetlights. It will finish the two-phase Highway 12 project, phase 1 of which went from Encinas Lane to Boyes Boulevard and was completed in 2010.

Phase 2, from Boyes to Agua Caliente, was just months away from going out to bid in late 2011 or early 2012, when the project hit a speed bump. In December 2011, the state Supreme Court dissolved all of the state’s 400-plus redevelopment agencies – including Sonoma County’s – which effectively stopped any projects in the pipeline.

Despite the fact that the county had sold $15 million in bonds in 2008 to pay for the project, the state wanted to use the redevelopment money to trim its deficit, setting up a court battle between the state and county.

But the county’s board of supervisors last May decided to fund the Highway 12 project and pay for it out of the money that it would be receiving from the funds that formerly went to the redevelopment agency. The supervisors voted to devote at least $5.3 million to the Highway 12 project. The county is also sitting on about $2.2 million in bond money.

Tom O’Kane, the deputy director of Transportation and Public Works, said the project went out for bids the last week in March.

“I’m hoping that we receive very competitive bids, since it’s a big project,” he said.

O’Kane said he’s reluctant to disclose any estimates until the bids are opened, but since there’s been so much publicity about the project, contractors have an idea.

“Based on recent bids, our estimate is just under $5 million,” he said. “But hopefully it will be lower.”

Phase 1 of the project came in under budget, but that’s when the economy was tanking in 2008 and 2009.

O’Kane also said the county can’t award the project until it receives its encroachment permit from Caltrans.

“The only element remaining is the final sign-off on the various utility relocations,” he said. “We included in the (bid) specifications that the contractors will have to hold their prices up for 90 days after the opening of bids, giving the state time to process the permit.”

Earlier, O’Kane estimated construction could take a year from start to completion.

“The various environmental permits could affect the schedule to some degree, depending on when the work starts,” he added.

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