August 25, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

The big dig

by Sue Dremann

For months, some Palo Alto residents have been waking up not to the chirping of birds but the rumble and roar of cement trucks and jackhammers.

The heavy equipment, dust, unpleasant odors, and often deafening noise are part of a multi-million-dollar project to revitalize the city's life-support systems: gas, water, sewers and electricity.

Consider this the year of the big dig -- with more to come over the next six years. Wear and tear has been ravaging the city's infrastructure, which residents depend on but don't see.

Residents understand the necessity of the work, but that hasn't made the experience pleasant.

"The constant noise has been unbelievable, and it's been going on forever," said Lara Aldag, an economics senior at Stanford University who lives in the University South neighborhood. "During the day, when there's no parking on the street, you have to circle the block three times to find a parking space."

If it seems as though the city is being dug up constantly, it's because some projects, such as gas and water main replacements, have been accelerated, chopping off as much as five years from the original schedule, city documents show.

Residents in University South have had a "double-whammy," said long-time homeowner Irene Deitsch. With two new homes under construction, the street was dug up numerous times to lay down utility connections.

Then came the gas main replacement and the noise.

"It's been really hard," she said. "They also block off the sidewalks, and you have to walk in the streets. It's hard when you walk a dog."

Pointing to the overhead electrical wires, Deitsch expressed concern that they weren't undergrounded at the same time as when the new pipe was laid.

"That means we'll be going through this all over again."

A number of Emerson Street residents complained that they weren't given an accurate set of expectations, although notices were left on doorknobs. For example, part of the pipe replacement required digging in their yards, where new connections and meters were attached, said resident Avril Wilsher. Some residents thought the city should hire a neighborhood liaison for the utility projects.

"It's been hell. It's gone on a month longer than they said it would. There were weeks when you wanted to wear headphones. ... I'm lucky my sitting room is in the back of the house, or I would've gone mad," Wilsher said.

Generally speaking, most customers won't experience a disruption of services when utility work is done, except when a final connection is made to the home or business. But things do go wrong, and when a pipe breaks, sudden disruptions occur, according to Linda Clerkson, utility communication manager for Palo Alto.

On Emerson Street, residents had to deal with three or four gas disruptions, Wilsher said. But despite their travails, residents praised the construction crew, saying they were always pleasant to deal with.

Normal construction hours for the revitalization project are from Monday through Friday, starting at 8 a.m. The Midtown neighborhood is next up for work on water, gas and electric lines. Here are details on some of the largest projects around town:
Water main replacement

Among the largest undertakings is a water main replacement project, projected to start Sept. 7. Approximately 51 of the total 226 miles of the city's corroded cast-iron water mains still need replacement, part of a project begun in 1993. To meet increasing demands and maintain water delivery required for fire fighting, the project has been accelerated from one mile to three miles per year. Nearly $11 million will be spent to upgrade the mains over the next five years.

In the coming six months, the project will work its way down Waverley Street, from Loma Verde to El Carmelo avenues and on El Dorado Avenue from Waverley to Cowper streets in the Midtown neighborhood. Additional streets throughout the city will be affected. Construction is expected to last approximately one to two weeks per city block, according to Clerkson.

Residents will receive seven days' notice prior to construction.

Main thoroughfares are expected to remain open, with traffic reduced to one lane in some places. However, in residential areas, each block will be closed to through traffic for safety purposes, she said.

Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project

Commuters who bump their way across raised metal plates on Middlefield Road in north Palo Alto have run into the Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project, which started on March 19. Due to end in January 2005, 26,600 linear feet of sewer mains and 600 sewer laterals are being replaced to improve service and cut down on plugged lines and pipe access problems. Older sewer pipes have become cracked and broken by tree roots, ground movement and housing construction.

Two areas will be affected by this project: the Community Center neighborhood north of Embarcadero Road, and the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, bounded by Seale Avenue, Middlefield Road and Alma Street.

Parking access may remain closed to residents during construction hours, but will be reopened at the end of each workday.
Gas Main Replacement

One construction project currently digging up some of the city's streets involves replacement of leaking, inadequately-sized and structurally-deficient gas mains, which present potential safety hazards.

Between now and the year 2010, 140,000 linear feet of pipe will be replaced, at a cost of $25.75 million. The current phase began in June and is expected to conclude next February.

Selected streets bounded by Oregon Expressway, Louis Road, Loma Verde and West Bayshore Road in the Midtown neighborhood will be affected.

Construction on El Camino Real won't begin until 2006, according to the city's gas utility project map.
Electrical upgrades

Finally, the largest ongoing electrical project is the undergrounding of utility lines, which will occur throughout the city through 2010. Undergrounding will improve reliability of electrical service, protect communities from falling power lines during storms and earthquakes, and reduce tree trimming.

Areas affected for the current phase are in Midtown, bounded by Oregon Expressway, Alma Street, Colorado Avenue and Cowper Street. Eighteen electrical poles are also scheduled for replacement in the Walter Hays neighborhood.

In addition, the replacement of undergrounded utilities is taking place, where the cables are more than 30 years old. The system was designed to meet service requirements of the mid-1960s, and has reached its projected life span. According to the city's 2004-05 Adopted Capital Budget, the rebuilt system will be improved so that routine maintenance can be performed without shutting off power. Residents needing to contact the City of Palo Alto Utilities about service disruptions can call 494-6914 for electric outages and 329-2579 for water, wastewater and natural gas problems. Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be e-mailed at sdremann@paweekly.com.

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