Highway 12 project to cruise into summer

Hoping those traffic jams caused by the Highway 12 Improvement Project will abate soon? Don’t take your foot off the break just yet, Sonoma commuters.

The estimated spring completion date of the project has been pushed back to July.

On Feb. 2, the Board of Supervisors approved a request from the Department of Transportation and Public Works to amend its contract with project engineers Green Valley Consulting Engineers to extend the completion date of construction - and add an additional $438,600 dollars to its initial contract of $723,000, bringing the total cost of the project to nearly $1.2 million.

Susan Gorin, the 1st District Supervisor, said multiple factors can delay such projects.

“On large construction projects, there are any number of issues that emerge during the construction process,” said Gorin. In the case of the Highway 12 work, she cites a number of reasons for the additional costs.

“One example is the repaving of the County-maintained streets and parking around the Center Plaza Building in Boyes Hot Springs, the future site of the community hub,” she said. Additional delays include PG&E work to relocate gas mains along the corridor, and the recent wet weather – which has delayed the construction of sidewalks and drainage inlets, and the installation of utility boxes and streetlights. Gorin allows that the construction delays, which will cost the county nearly half-a-million dollars more than originally approved, will have a financial impact on businesses along the Highway 12 corridor as well.

“I am working with business owners and the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce on promotion of events and businesses along the corridor,” she said. Gorin points out that once construction is completed, with improved parking, lighting, sidewalks and better pedestrian access, the Springs Area will be much better positioned to move ahead with the ongoing development of the Springs Specific Plan, which will take an estimated two years to complete. Intended to be a guide for the future shape of the Springs area, as the region evolves into what many residents and County officials hope will be a sustainable, pedestrian-oriented community. The plan will provide a vision of that future, which will likely include details of how the Springs will incorporate improved transportation systems.

A Community Advisory Team of 15 members has been formed, and held its first meeting on Feb. 1. Over the next two years, a total of five community workshops will be held for the public, crafted to give locals the opportunity to provide their own feedback as the plan develops. The first of these community workshops will be held Monday, Feb. 29 at Altamira Middle School, 17805 Arnold Drive at 6 p.m.

Valley residents interested in the development of the Springs Specific Plan will now have a compact informational website on which to find news, updates, meeting announcements, contact instructions, maps, plans and documents and other useful tidbits.

The web address of the new site is thesprings.specificplan.org. With plenty of photos and an easy-to-read format, site managers hope it gets as much Internet traffic as the Springs currently gets auto traffic, which – given the recent and anticipated delays in road work – will apparently be daily part of the work-time commute, at least until summer.

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Springs Alliance meeting Feb. 11

A presentation by Sonoma Splash and an update of the progress of the Highway 12 Improvement project are the top agenda items at this week’s monthly meeting of the Springs Community Alliance. To be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, at the Sonoma Charter School, 17202 Sonoma Highway, the meeting is open to the public and will likely be well-attended, given the heightened interest in the ongoing Sonoma Splash community pool project.

In December, the local nonprofit, seeking ways to earn necessary money to build a pool and aquatic center at the old Paul’s Resort site on Verano Avenue, floated the possibility of funding the project by building houses on a portion of the site. The plan would require the decommissioning of the 58-year-old Paul’s Field Little League baseball diamond. Since the suggestion was first made public, a lively and passionate discussion has been taking place throughout the Valley, and questions remain how the project would be carried out.

The Springs Community Alliance meets the second Thursday of the month year round.

Email David at david.templeton@sonomanews.com.