San Juan infrastructure work on target for September
completion
A nearly $10 million infrastructure project in San Juan Bautista
is progressing
”
as well as can be expected
”
despite recent inclement weather, according to the project
manager.
San Juan infrastructure work on target for September completion
A nearly $10 million infrastructure project in San Juan Bautista is progressing “as well as can be expected” despite recent inclement weather, according to the project manager.
Mark Davis said last week that “We are making progress and we’re pleasantly surprised about the lack of surprises that we’re finding underneath everything” as Pavex crews work from the north end to the south end of Fourth Street, tearing up the roadway to replace old and patchwork water and sewer lines.
The improvements, funded by an $11.1 million, 35-year bond, include the new water and sewer lines, a new reservoir, a water-softening plant and new curbs and gutters. The project is scheduled to be completed by mid-September.
Crews are discovering pipes under the street that range from a few years old to a half-century or more, officials say.
“Recently a substantial amount of work has been done,” Davis said, indicating that sewer line crews worked first and now water line crews are on the job.
City Manager Steve Julian said the project is “going very well.”
“We’ve had some residents concerned about dust and dirt and debris, which in some cases is unavoidable. But at the end of the day, they’ll be pleased that they end up with a more reliable water system and new sidewalks.”
As crews make their way down a street, they put plates down over holes in the road to allow residents to gain access to their homes, Davis said.
“We’re trying to be as least intrusive as possible,” he said.
As of last week, there had been no water main breaks or power outages associated with the road work, Davis said.
With this type of project, “You expect the worse and accept anything better,” he said. “It’s better than the worst.”
The water softening plant, which should begin construction in May, will “greatly improve the quality of water that is delivered to residents and businesses in town and will let the city meet water quality board regulations,” Davis said.
Julian said some residents have expressed concerns about “change orders,” or requests from contractors to change the planned cost or scope of the work they are doing, “but in many instances, the change orders have resulted in a decrease in the cost of the project,” he said.
“The city’s infrastructure is hardly mapped at all – at least accurately where water lines are concerned,” Julian said. “When planning this project, we used our best judgment about where we should put things and when we’ve run into obstacles – like when a water line is in the way, we’ve had to make changes.”
Those changes, for the most part, have been “inconsequential,” Julian said, noting that most of the change orders have not had to come before the City Council before the work is done to keep the project moving.
“It has been an adventure,” the city manager said. “You’re dealing with an old city like San Juan Bautista that is not a wealthy city. I don’t know if there wasn’t the time or inclination to carefully map every change made to the water system over the years.
“That’s because the city was developed piecemeal over time. As we move through this project, we have the opportunity to correct some of these things.”
Julian said that he plans to suggest to the City Council that the city address another aspect of upgrading San Juan’s infrastructure “as we can afford it.”
“Ultimately, we could bring everything up to snuff,” he said.
Curbs, gutters and sidewalks along the path of the roadwork are expected to be completed after all of the underground work is done, sometime in the late summer, according to officials.
