Corte Madera gears up for $2.1M road resurfacing job
Corte Madera is preparing to repave 41 roads throughout town after aborting a similar effort last year.
Town officials have been authorized to advertise construction bids and to award a $2.1 million contract with a 10% contingency to the lowest responsible bidder.
“This is really a project that we had bid last year, and due to high bid prices we split it into two phases,” said R.J. Suokko, director of public works. “Given we’re pushing it to this spring, summer, we added some additional roads and have now set it up to bid it again in hopes of better bid prices.”
If the project stays within budget, the total of the two phases would be $3.73 million or less, and more roads will now be covered.
When the original project was approved last summer, officials aimed to tackle road resurfacing and safety improvements on 24 roads. The town engineer’s estimate for that project was $1.85 million, and the Town Council authorized a budget not to exceed $2.1 million.
Town officials received two bids in July, one for $3.3 million by Ghilotti Bros. Inc. and another for $3.9 million by Ghilotti Construction Inc. The bids were rejected, and town officials split the project into two phases.
The first phase of the project was redesigned to include only sidewalks, accessible curb ramps, storm drains and other improvements, but no resurfacing. The streets involved were in the eastern part of town where the sanitary district replaced sewer mains and laterals as part of its 2021 summer project. They included Creekside Court, Diamond Head Passage, Ebbtide Passage, El Camino Drive, Endeavor Cove, Endeavor Drive, Prince Royal Drive and several others.
The first phase was completed in December for $1.63 million.
This second phase of the project will consist of hot mix asphalt resurfacing, rubberized cape sealing, microresurfacing and striping. The roads involved have structural failures that have resulted in potholes and widespread cracking.
El Camino Drive between Paradise Drive and Granada Drive, Granada Drive between El Camino Drive, Sonora Drive and Creekside Court will have new asphalt resurfacing. Other roads involved will have rubberized cape seal, or microresurfacing treatment.
Crews will use a gray rock aggregate rather than a black rock aggregate. The black rock produces a “heat island effect” because it absorbs and radiates the sun’s energy.
The gray rock is lighter and is more reflective, which will reduce pavement temperatures during the hot months. This comes with environmental and safety benefits, and it is also about $34,000 less expensive because it can be locally sourced rather than transported from the East Bay, Suokko said.
Suokko said the only drawback is that the gray aggregate fades more quickly. The public perception sometimes is that the road is failing when it’s not, and that can increase the volume of resident questions or complaints.
The Town Council, which approved the plan with the gray aggregate at its March 7 meeting, said the benefit of the gray rock outweighed potential negatives.
“Obviously we’re having more and more, you know, just unbearably hot days,” Councilmember Eli Beckman said. “And the less we have hot streets radiating that heat back up at the people and pets and everything walking around along our streets and sidewalks, that is good.”
Mayor Charles Lee said it’s about environmental stewardship.
“We’re not in the business of heating Mother Nature,” he said.