The Del Mar City Council voted Feb. 17 to award a $1.3 million contract to Hazard Construction, which was about half of a $2.75 million engineer’s estimate, for the Jimmy Durante Boulevard Pavement Rehabilitation Project.
All eight bids came in lower than the engineer’s estimate, with the highest three exceeding $1.8 million. City staff said that reduced federal spending put many projects on hold, leading to bids that were markedly lower than expected.
“Unfortunately with the reduction of federal spending, the prices have gone down to the point where some contractors are going out of business,” Joe Bride, the city’s public works director, said during the council meeting. “So it’s a great time for agencies like ourselves to be bidding work out.”
A council agenda report added “that a recent slowdown in Federal Public Works Project spending has forced local contractors to lower/eliminate profit margins to stay in business,” leading to the discrepancy between the engineer’s estimate and bid amounts.
The pavement condition index score along Jimmy Durante Boulevard ranges from 49 to 62, including a rating of “poor” for most of the pavement, according to the council agenda report. The citywide score is 76, compared to a 73 in Solana Beach and a 63 in San Diego.
The project will include pavement and traffic striping improvements along Jimmy Durante Boulevard between the San Dieguito River Bridge and the south side of its intersection at Via de la Valle, according to the report. It covers a stretch of road approximately three quarters of a mile long, and 40- to 112-feet wide.
The council also approved task orders of $157,265 to Dudek for construction management and inspection services, a $26,465 to NOVA for geotechnical services, and a $27,200 amendment to Michael Baker International for engineering support services during construction.
The total project cost, with the Hazard contract and task orders, is $1.7 million, with funding coming from sources including the city’s general fund, Measure Q fund, SB 1 road maintenance and rehabilitation account, and the TransNet half-cent sales tax administered by the San Diego Association of Governments for local projects.