Agenda

Return

C. 1

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Julia R. Bueren, Public Works Director/Chief Engineer
Date:	December 15, 2015

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

APPROVE the Balfour Road Shoulder Widening Project and related actions under the California Environmental Quality Act, Brentwood area.

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 12/15/2015

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:	Leigh Chavez (925) 313-2366
cc:	L. Mangabay, Public Works Finance Division C. Gemberling, Public Works, Environmental Division A. Huerta, Public Works, Design/Construction Division

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: December 15, 2015
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE the Balfour Road Shoulder Widening Project (Project) and AUTHORIZE the Public Works Director, or designee, to advertise the Project, Brentwood area. [Project No. 0662-6R4002] DCD-CP# 15-06 (District III), and


FIND, on the basis of the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and all comments received and staff responses contained herein, that there is no substantial evidence the Project may have significant effect on the environment, and

RECOMMENDATION(S): (CONT'D)

ADOPT the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation and Monitoring Reporting Program in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to Article 6, Section 15070(a), (the custodian of which is the Department of Conservation and Development Director who is located at 30 Muir Road, Martinez, CA), and

DIRECT the Director of Conservation and Development to file a Notice of Determination with the County Clerk, and

AUTHORIZE the Public Works Director to arrange for payment of $2,210 for California Department of Fish and Wildlife fees, a $50 fee to the County Clerk for filing the Notice of Determination, and a $25 fee to Department of Conservation and Development for processing.

FISCAL IMPACT:

100% Discovery Bay Mitigation Fund.

BACKGROUND:

The project will widen Balfour Road from Sellers Avenue in Brentwood to Bixler Road in Discovery Bay to bring the shoulders up to current design standard to provide a driver recovery area and a bike lane. The project segment is approximately three miles long and is a narrow, substandard two-lane road that receives substantial traffic at high speeds. It is used as a thoroughfare between Brentwood and Discovery Bay as well as a commuter route to State Route 4.

The project consists of widening the existing 18 to 20-foot pavement width to 36 feet wide (two 12-foot wide travel lanes with 6-foot wide paved shoulders/bike lanes and two-foot wide shoulder backing on each side). The project does not increase the number of travel lanes and will, therefore, not increase the capacity of the roadway. The majority of the widening will occur along the south side of Balfour Road. The segment between Sellers Avenue and Byron Highway will require adding 16 to 28 feet of asphalt pavement along the south side. The segment between Byron Highway and Bixler Road will require adding 16 to 18 feet of asphalt pavement primarily along the south side of the road. Left turn pocket lanes will be added on the east and west legs of Balfour Road at Byron Highway, and a left turn pocket lane will be added on the west leg of Balfour Road at Bixler Road. A drainage system consisting of an open roadside ditch and underground pipe along the south side of the road will be installed to collect and convey roadside runoff.

Utility relocations include Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) poles and at-grade vaults, AT&T telephone manholes and poles, East Contra Costa Irrigation District (ECCID) underground irrigation pipes and channel crossing headwalls, and TV cable lines. The utility relocations will occur primarily along the north side of the road and will be placed between the proposed edge of road and proposed right-of-way (ROW). The ECCID holds easements and fee titles within some of the parcels where they have their canal and underground pipe facilities.

The existing County road ROW varies from 40 to 100 feet. CCCPWD will need to acquire strips of land along parcel frontages where the existing ROW cannot accommodate the shoulder widening and utility relocations. The strips of land to be acquired vary between 5 to 15 feet along the north side of Balfour Road from various parcels and between 5 to 44 feet from various parcels along the south side of the road which total approximately 12.7 acres. Residential landscape trees and shrubs (approximately 27) and fences within the proposed ROW will be removed, and mailboxes will be relocated. Temporary construction easements will also be needed from some of the parcels for construction staging areas. Therefore, real property transactions will be necessary in support of the project.

Construction is anticipated to occur in 2017 and will take approximately six months to complete. Signs announcing the construction start date will be posted in the project vicinity seven days prior to start of construction. Standard construction equipment will be used, including but not limited to: excavators, graders, loaders, sweepers/scrubbers, plate compactors, rollers, backhoes, and pavers. Construction activities will be generally limited to the hours between 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Traffic control will be in place for westbound traffic to accommodate morning commute traffic, whereas eastbound traffic will be directed to a posted detour route which is anticipated to occur up to 18 weeks.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION: