When Palo Alto officials unanimously approved in 2011 a proposal to reduce lanes and add an assortment of street improvements to California Avenue, the project came with a $1.7-million price tag, much of which would be funded by transportation grants.
Since then, both the City Council’s ambitions and the project’s budget have undergone a dramatic expansion, as evidenced by the $7.1 million construction contract the council is scheduled to approve tonight for the long-awaited transformation of the eclectic commercial strip between El Camino Real and the Caltrain station.
The council is set to vote on a contract with Redgwick Construction Company totaling $6.2 million for the construction project and another $931,700 in contingency costs, bringing the total contract to $7.1 million. In addition to the lane reduction, landscape improvements and new street amenities (news racks, benches, bike-parking spots) that the project entailed in February 2011, it now also includes two new plazas, wider sidewalks, additional public art, new streetlights and replacement of water utilities.
The expanding scope of the California Avenue project isn’t the only factor in the swelling price tag. According to staff, a hot construction climate may have also played a role. Though Redgwick’s bid was the lowest of the four the city received, it is well above the city’s pre-bid estimate of $4.9 million. Bids initially ranged from $5.7 million to $7.7 million, though Redgwick’s lowest bid was later revised to $6.2 million to account for discrepancy in the company’s construction schedule, according to a report from the city’s planning department.
“The higher bids are indicative of a changing economic climate where many recent project starts locally and regionally are quickly driving up construction prices,” the report states.
For the council, the goal is to make California Avenue more attractive to shoppers and more safe for pedestrians and bicyclists. In approving it more than three years ago, members talked about making California Avenue more like University Avenue or Mountain View’s Castro Street. But the project proved to be a hard sell for local merchants, dozens of whom argued that the reduction of lanes from four to two would create traffic nightmares and hurt their business.
Owners of California Paint Company and Keeble & Shuchat Photography had also filed separate lawsuits against the city, challenging the environmental analysis for the project. Both of these suits were dismissed in 2012.
The staff recommendation also includes $30,000 to assist merchants and visitors who will have to deal with traffic and parking disruptions for most of the year. Efforts to mitigate the impact includes a noontime shuttle between Stanford Research Park ad California Avenue; a restriping of Birch Street to provide 32 additional two-hour-parking spaces; and “extensive signage to direct customers to stores and restaurants and drivers to parking lots,” according to the report.
Funding for the California Avenue project includes $1.2 million in grants from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and another $800,000 from VTA’s vehicle-registration fees.
Construction is set to begin next month and stretch until the end of the year, the report states.
There must be some typos in this article. If not, it appears that CC approved a $1.7 million project in 2011 and then someohow the pre-bid cost estimate grew to $4.9 million and now it is expected to cost $7.1 million. If these numbers are correct, how can CC still consider this an approved project?
How much money could we save by removing the public art?
Not just the merchants were against reducing the lanes from 4 to 2. Most residents at the various Cal Ave informational meetings were also against changing the lanes. The Weekly has never included this information. All we needed was to resurface our streets but instead we have a ridiculous project rammed down our throats. After this project is completed traffic will be choked up on Cal Ave just as it is now on University Ave and Castro. And two new spaces for events?? Why not at our parks? We don’t need events on Cal Ave; we already have sufficient venues for outdoor events in Palo Alto.
Another outrageous example of the city council,,elected by the residents, not listening to or serving the interests of the residents who they were elected to serve.
What a bunch of self- interested dorks. They should all be audited.
CC is allowing a greater than 400% increase? How is that possible? How do we stop this?
Gee, what a shock that the gridlock will cost us even more than expected.
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO tired of the city’s inept planning and refusal to listen to the residents.
Safer? How many people have had been injured by CA traffic?
I feel as though the City Council has listened to me…I am so looking forward to the renovated California Avenue. I live on California Avenue and can tell you it is way out-of-date and in need of a facelift. The street itself is in terrible shape and a safety hazard to those walking through the Sunday Farmer’s Market. And, since neighborhood restaurants started serving meals on the sidewalk, the sidewalk is much too narrow for pedestrians. For those who don’t agree with the City’s direction on this project: you win some and you lose some. There is no need to suggest malicious motives on the part of city officials. Once the renovation is complete, public opinion will be wildly supportive of this improvement in our civic infrastructure.
“Construction is set to begin next month and stretch until the end of the year, the report states.”
The end of WHAT year??? Anyone want to bet? Will it take as long the the Mitchell Park Library? Will it take 8 years like the traffic light “redesign” near Town & Country?
And they’re STILL capping aid to merchants at $30,000??? How much is that per merchant? How pathetic and insensitive our Planning and Transportation bureaucrats are!
Hmm .. cost of this project has jumped to over $7M. That ole camel has managed to sneak into the tent one more time. Once his nose is inside, it doesn’t take long for him to make his way all the way in.
Got to wonder how long it will be before the total cost of this project tops the $10M mark?
Actually, I would be in favor of eliminating all vehicular traffic from that section of California Ave., as well as short portions of the intersecting streets. Make it pedestrian and bicycle only. With lots of parking just a short distance away on either side of California, it would be easy to get where you want. It is already a good idea to avoid driving on California due to the proliferation of bicycles and pedestrians. California Ave would make a nice outdoor mall, and the summer concerts would no longer disrupt traffic. It could become a very pleasant place to go and shop and eat and whatever.
JustMe, so you’re in favor of putting small businesses like the Cobbler and the Paint Store and other useful businesses out of business??? People already attend the concerts there WITHOUT putting the businesses OUT of business.
The ridiculously long construction in Los Altos has already destroyed European Cobbler’s store there. Why not put the Cal Ave one out of business, too?? And hey, who needs Keeble & Shugat or Mollie Stone either?
Let’s destroy the businesses so there’s NO sales tax revenues so the Utilities Dept. can push our rates even higher to subsidize the tax losses. Smart Planning R Us. FEH.
Can’t wait for them to finish this project. The current crosswalks across 4 lane streets with very random car traffic is like a killing zone for pedestrians. Don’t know why red lights at every intersection (like University Ave has) wasn’t considered as a fix, but wider sidewalks and narrower car lanes is fine with us.
@casa and @justme
refreshing to hear there are people who want to see Cal Ave change it’s look from car friendly to more pedestrian friendly. The local businesses will get a kick out of it and will thrive.
@JustMe – I like your idea. I am in favor of improving California Avenue, though not in favor of the lane reduction. At the very least I’d like to see the City delay that aspect of the beautification until after all the approved projects are done so that we can assess their real impact. But if the lane reduction must happen, why not go all the way and make the street car-free?
1.7 – 7.1, wow thats an unbelievable increase. Consider that this project started with the removal of all the healthy trees on Cal ave as the wish of a minority of businesses and mushroomed with staffs desire to grab the brass ring; “grant money” and now has avalanched into project whose budget is over 7 million!!!!!
why is this a priority over other unfinished projects in PA, such as the promised, but not delivered , landscaped traffic circles in College Terrace.
Has there been any real evaluation of the impacts of the “lane diet” in conjunction with the planned increased density for the Cal ave concept plan area?????
Dear Silly, please don’t be silly. (just kidding)
I do not see stores being the current shops being put out of business at all. What I see is a small area that is safe for people to walk from store to store without having to hike down the street to a crosswalk and back, dodging cars on the way. just walk across the street anywhere, perfectly safe. I see vendors able to set up portable booths in the middle of what is currently traffic, more space for outdoor seating at restaurants and cafes, and if you blanket the area with free wifi it could be a great place to come, grab a bite, pick up a few things, relax a bit while e-reading the news, and so on. People could actually speak to each other, rather than being reduced to gesturing rudely from inside their cars.
If you want to visit the paint store and buy lots of stuff, just park on the side street near the store. With all the walking you get to do, perhaps you will need the cobbler to fix your shoes, which costs less than getting new tires or straightening a dent. It could become an attractive place to come for people who like that sort of environment and can’t get it anywhere else. If you REALLY want to stay in your car, there are other places to go, but I encourage you to join us out in the open on a warm and sunny day, there are lots of those in this part of the world.
@ Silly -it’s Keeble & Shuchat, not Shugat. Are you even a customer there?
The work needs to be done ASAP, before the price tops $10 million. Enough talking, bickering and whining. Let’s just do it, and as designed.
Customers will enjoy the transformation, and we will all deal with minor inconvenience, till it is done, like everyone else does in cities around the world when they upgrade infrastructure.
I lived in Germany for four years and walked through many downtown districts with car-free shopping zones. It was quite pleasurable and conducive to many micro-businesses set up on the actual street. It is quite possible that a car-free shopping zone would become a destination for even more consumers searching for a unique shopping experience. It works very well in Europe; who is to say it would not work well here?
I think he idea of making California a car-free zone is short-sighted and selfish. What about elderly, or handicapped people who can’t walk very far at one time – or those who have problems with their knees? They are grateful to find empty spaces to park close to the stores or restaurants they enjoy patronizing. I know many such people. Car-free or bicycle-only is ONLY a preference for those happy, able-bodied persons who can walk long distances or sit on a bicycle comfortably. It’s pretty rotten for those who can’t.
Let’s take bets on which gets done first, the three $20M soccer fields at the golf course or the $10M sidewalk project.
@Exasperated
What about those folks who due to age and impairment aren’t able to drive? Or do you think that the only people who don’t drive are the yuppie bicycle types?
Take it easy people.
There have been several known increases in the SCOPE of the project and there appears to about a 20% increase in costs since it was first priced out – which reflects the difference between the prices during the downturn and now. If the random businesses had not sued, this could have been done 2 years ago and we wouldn’t have to deal with price increases.
Wider sidewalks – which are a good idea — got added as did new lighting for the street, which should do a lot to turn it from suburban strip mall standard to quaint shopping street standard.
there is a big dollar item which is an upgrade of water mains. These are REALLY old, have been breaking lately and it makes a lot of sense to combine this project (funded by utilities) and the streetscape one. If we don’t upgrade them now, we will be back doing it in a couple of years, tearing up perfectly good street and causing disruption to merchants.
Yes – this is not a small number but we can afford it and this area deserves the upgrades.
There’s a lot to be said for making California Ave car-free, at least during the busy afternoon and evening hours. Deliveries can come in the mornings or use the back allies. Disabled drivers can use the parking lots that line the streets behind all the businesses. If there are not enough disabled parking spaces adjacent to each business, that is easy to fix with signs and paint.
California Ave is not a through street connecting Stanford University to Hwy 101, which is the main reason the city never made University Ave a pedestrian mall. People trying to drive to the Caltrain station can easily access it via Oregon Expressway to Park Blvd.
Palo Alto needs a Vision Zero plan to completely eliminate car vs pedestrian carnage, especially in shopping districts and school districts. I just realized that “carnage” starts with “car”, no pun intended.
Making Cal Ave car-free is hard to reconcile with its status as a transit hub. The train station needs to be accessible to shuttle buses connecting to employers, etc. While they could all come in via Park, the increase in traffic on Park might ruin it as a desirable bike boulevard. The current plan seems to make it safer for bikes and peds while keeping access to the train station open.
@Relax – thank you.
In my opinion the costs of this facelift for California Ave is out of control. The $7 million would amount to 12% of the cost of the new public safety building that the city council has contended is of utmost importance.
Yet the council is unwilling to allocate spending to make the public safety building a priority. And I don’t see any of the Infrastructure Commission members raising their voice to the city council to get them to focus.
It seems the city council & infrastructure commission only speak out when it comes to raising taxes to pay for this project.
Folks, 1.7, 7.1, ? . Sorry the final # is 12.5m when it’s all over. Traffic and parking issues will then follow.. Just like downtown
OMG. All it needs is trees.
(1) I don’t understand the people who are worried about traffic. Cal Ave gets 1/3 the traffic of Castro St., University Ave., Santa Cruz Ave. etc. because it is not a through arterial. It ends at the railroad. There is never anything is vaguely resembling a backup on Cal Ave and the lane reduction will not cause one. The current 4-lane roadway is basically a ghost road even during peak traffic times on El Camino and Oregon Expressway.
(2) The plan results in a net increase in parking on the street (mostly due to more sharply angled diagonal parking, which can fit more vehicles)
I work nearby and will be pleased to continue to patronize area businesses as a pedestrian during lunchtime in a more attractive and safer street environment.
Obviously, the city council members were deaf to all of the input they received from the Cal Ave merchants and customers.
Unfortunately, Cal Ave may very well become a place to be avoided.
I Hate this Idea. If they take out the parking spots the ups might as well take out all the road and turn it into a shopping mall!
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