Butterfield Boulevard will be lengthened from its southern end
to form a continuous bypass around the eastern side of downtown
Morgan Hill.
Butterfield Boulevard will be lengthened from its southern end to form a continuous bypass around the eastern side of downtown Morgan Hill.
The city council gave the go-ahead for the $22-million project Wednesday, shifting money from other funds in order to make up for about $2.8 million in cost estimate increases since it was budgeted last summer.
When completed, Butterfield Boulevard will extend about 4,000 feet from its current terminus at Tennant Avenue, sweeping to the west in a wide curve around the southern end of town and connecting to Watsonville Road at Monterey Road.
More than just a road, the four-lane addition will also consist of a bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and a 30-acre drainage basin for the flood control channel that parallels existing segments of Butterfield, public works director Karl Bjarke explained.
The $14.1-million construction contract with RGW Construction, which was approved unanimously by the council, will also cover an improved traffic signal at Tennant Avenue, new bike lanes, sidewalks, street lights and landscaping.
Property acquisitions along the new road’s right-of-way will add another $6 million to the overall cost. Fees, surveys, inspections, staff time and overhead will add about another $1.2 million.
Construction is expected to begin late this year, and will last for most of next year, Bjarke said.
RGW Construction submitted the lowest bid among eight companies. The winning bid was higher than city staff’s estimated construction cost of about $12.5 million.
In order to cover the shortfall of funds, the council agreed to shift funds from other pending projects that are part of the city’s capital improvement plan, but are not as high on the list of priorities as the Butterfield south extension.
Those include about $1 million in redevelopment agency bond proceeds from the proposed Butterfield north extension, which would have extended the road from Cochrane to Madrone Parkway. The council also shifted about $1.1 million from the city’s drainage system impact fund, $350,000 from the sewer impact fund and about $365,000 from an upcoming traffic signal improvement project on Cochrane Road.
Bjarke said the Butterfield north project will be “unfunded” as a result of the shift of funds, but the Cochrane Road improvement can still proceed as it is expected to cost less than expected.
The bulk of the project’s funding — about $15.1 million — comes from dedicated RDA bond proceeds.
Councilman Larry Carr said Wednesday’s decision to raid other long-term projects for this one reflects the growing need for the road segment, which will complete a smoother bypass around downtown Morgan Hill.
“This has been a high priority for us for quite some time,” Carr said. “Property acquisition has always slowed us down (in the past), and I would hate for financing to be the reason to slow us down now.”
