Board OKs plans to redesign VS roads

The Calaveras County supervisors approved a design contract Tuesday for improvements to the intersection of highways 12 and 26 in Valley Springs.

The firm, Dokken Engineering of Folsom, will proceed with the design portion of the project, which involves detailed studies to ascertain the best way of modifying the intersection, other alternative designs and the costs associated with all options.
 

Community input also will be a critical part of the process, said Public Works Director Tom Garcia.

“Public Works and Dokken see a lack of participation as failure of the project,” Garcia told supervisors.

Two options brought up at the meeting were the installation of a traffic signal at the intersection or creation of a roundabout. Both options would require seizure of surrounding land parcels, said Jonathan R. Mitchell, senior engineer with Calaveras County Public Works.

According to Mitchell, the California Department of Transportation identified in a 2003 report the necessity of obtaining two parcels of land immediately south of the intersection if a traffic light is to be installed.

If the roundabout is ultimately the preferred option, it might be necessary to acquire the two parcels to the north of the intersection as well.

It was not immediately clear to whom this land belongs.

The county received $350,000 in federal funding from the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality Improvement Program and will contribute $74,000 in local funding from the Road Impact Mitigation fund for the design process, Mitchell said.

Supervisors expressed shock at the amount of money required for design, but Garcia responded that the need to add lanes, the cost of equipment and the funds required to get the rights to the surrounding land made every dollar necessary.

Also, the 2003 Caltrans report was created as an analysis for a possible Valley Springs Bypass, another road project considered to reduce congestion. The intersection improvement, and subsequent installation of traffic signals or a roundabout, was originally a proposed alternative to the Valley Springs Bypass.

To qualify for federal funds, however, the project has to be a standalone effort that can solve the congestion problems for a minimum of 20 to 25 years, Mitchell said. Therefore, all of the studies have to be redone with the intersection improvement in mind rather than relying on the 2003 report.

Dokken and the county plan to finish the design process by early 2011 and begin construction later that year.