Federal funding helps to get two Quito bridges on target

By Leigh Ann Maze

A stalled project conceived by the city of Saratoga in 1995 to replace two aging bridges on Quito Road received a jump-start Dec. 15, when the City Council awarded a contract to AN West Inc. of Richmond to complete design, environmental and right-of-way acquisition services.

The company was chosen from among six prospective firms interviewed by Los Gatos and Saratoga officials on April 28, 1998, before the project was delayed by skyrocketing building costs in the area.

Originally budgeted at $611,000, the construction bill for the two bridges is now estimated to be between $1.5 million and $2 million, according to acting Saratoga Public Works Director John Cherbone. After a lengthy negotiating process, Caltrans approved increased federal funding for the project in October. The exact price will be set after final plans and specifications are complete and the project goes to bid in the next five months.

The Quito Road bridge-replacement project is a Federal Aid Project funded through the Highway Bridge Rehabilitation and Replacement Program, which will pay for 80 percent of the estimated $265,000 cost of design environmental and right-of-way services. The remaining 20 percent will be shouldered equally by the town of Los Gatos, the Santa Clara County Water District and the city of Saratoga. Saratoga will pay $17,666.67 toward the project and is drafting a cooperative agreement with town of Los Gatos and the water district, Cherbone said. The cost of construction will also be split 80 percent and 20 percent.

Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin this summer.

"We don't want to do construction while school is in because traffic is so much worse," said Cherbone, adding that it is too soon to speculate on what effect construction will have on traffic.

The two narrow Quito Road bridges, located near the intersection of Old Adobe Road, were built around 1915. Each bridge is about 23 feet wide and will be widened to 36 feet for vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The new designs will also provide some flood control by allowing greater water flow.

Several bridges in the Saratoga and Los Gatos area have been replaced in recent years. The Highway Bridge Rehabilitation and Replacement Program replaced two southerly bridges on Quito Road near Saratoga-Los Gatos Road in 1993 and a Pierce Road bridge in 1996. The cities of Saratoga and Monte Sereno built a new bridge on Quito Road near Bicknell Avenue in 1995. The Lark Avenue and Blossom Hill Road crossings over Los Gatos Creek received seismic retrofits in October.

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