El Cerrito Trying To Bring Greenway Project In Under Budget

El Cerrito officials suffered a case of sticker shock when they looked at the contractors' bids for a safety improvement project along the Ohlone Greenway.

The three contractors' bids for the Ohlone Greenway Crosswalk Improvement Project all came in roughly $200,000 over the original estimate of $425,000. It turns out the engineers' estimate didn't take into account some installation difficulties of the project that would raise the costs. The lowest bid of $626,000 is $37,900 over the available funding in the project budget.

The El Cerrito City Council on Tuesday will consider a resolution to re-advertise the project with changes that could cut costs.

This funded budget for the project is $588,100, including a Highway Safety Improvement Project grant of $529,290 and local matching funds provided by Measure C and J funds of $58,810.

The project will include the following improvements:

• Installation of in-pavement flashing lights along each crosswalk
• Installation of controller and passive detection devices, including posts and foundations, at each crosswalk. The detection devices will automatically detect the presence of pedestrians, as well as bicyclists along the Ohlone Greenway
• Installation of LED enhanced crosswalk signs and posts at each crosswalk
• Installation of solar-power equipment at each crosswalk
• Installation of traffic striping and pavement markings at each crosswalk
• Collision analysis software.

The project analysis states "the focus of the project is improving the Greenway and nearby crossings on the arterial roadways as follows: Fairmount Avenue, Central Avenue, Central Avenue at Liberty Street next to a BART parking lot, Stockton Avenue, Moeser Lane, Potrero Avenue, Hill Street, Hill Street at the BART parking lot entrance, and Cutting Boulevard."