Officials mark completion of Bridge Street project
Nov. 28—After over a year of construction, Yuba City recently completed its Bridge Street widening project, transforming the road into a four-lane corridor and installing several infrastructure and beautification improvements.
City officials gathered on Bridge Street on Tuesday for a ribbon cutting ceremony commemorating the project's success.
With a total estimated cost of $10.2 million, the project expanded the final stretch of Bridge Street from Gray Avenue to Cooper Avenue and created a continuous four-lane road from Highway 99 east to the Fifth Street Bridge. Additional landscaping, street lights, new synchronized traffic signals and ADA-accessible sidewalks and crosswalks were also installed along with curbs, gutters and storm drains.
The city previously said there would be "ample room" for on-street parking on both sides of Bridge Street to maintain a "neighborhood feel."
"This project is the next segment of a multi-phase project to complete our entire Bridge Street corridor from State Route 99 to State Route 70. It removes an extremely congested bottleneck. It better facilitates an east-west movement of goods and people between the cities of Yuba City and Marysville, including State Routes 99, 70 and 20. It attracts and incentives private capital and investment in the region. It improves direct access to (Adventist Health/Rideout Hospital)," Yuba City Mayor Wade Kirchner said.
With these subsequent improvements to traffic, Kirchner estimates that the Bridge Street project will reduce over 500 tons of CO2 emissions and over 1,100 vehicle miles traveled annually.
Moving forward, city officials plan on conducting evaluations of State Route 99 and Gray Avenue and traffic signal optimization possibilities. City Manager Diana Langley said that the city will also look into reutilizing surplus properties that it purchased along the northern corridor of Bridge Street in preparation for the project.
In his remarks during the ribbon cutting, Kirchner thanked residents who live along Bridge Street for enduring the on-going construction as well as city staff and the groups responsible for carrying out the project.
"I would like to acknowledge our great citizens of Yuba City, those within the construction zone, for their contributions, patience and understanding during this process. This was a labor of love and you can see the work that was done with it," Kirchner said. "I'd like to acknowledge Knife River Construction of Chico, MHM Engineers of Marysville, Knights CM Group and our rockstar city maintenance staff."
The project included a construction contract for over $8 million that was awarded to Knife River Construction of Chico. It included $1.2 million for construction contingencies, more than $814,000 to Knight CM Group of Gold River for construction management and about $168,000 for labor compliance services, design services and city administration costs, the Appeal previously reported.
City Councilmember Dave Shaw previously said that the project was partly funded by an award from the California Transportation Commission for $2.8 million, which was acquired with support from the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Further funding included $2.63 million from the city's Development Impact Fee account, $1.73 million from state Transportation Development Act funds, $2.28 million from gas tax funds accrued in the city's Road Maintenance and Rehab account, and $775,000 from the city's sewer and water infrastructure fund accounts.
"This is a key piece of city infrastructure," Public Works Director Ben Moody said. "Traffic on this corridor affects everything in the city. This project didn't happen overnight. We think of this as the gateway and the look of Yuba City."
