The City of Morgan Hill’s Butterfield Boulevard southern extension will finally be open to vehicle traffic Saturday morning, according to Morgan Hill Project Manager Julie Behzad.
Approved by the Council in April 2011, the 4,000-foot project will extend Butterfield Boulevard from its current terminus at Tennant Avenue in a southwesterly direction to Monterey and Watsonville roads. The complicated project, which includes a bridge over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks, has been beset by delays in the form of at least a dozen change orders costing about $290,000 since it was approved.
The original construction completion date was projected to be the beginning of this year, according to City staff.
RGW Construction was awarded the construction contract, funded by former Redevelopment Agency bond proceeds, of about $14.2 million. The total budgeted cost of the project, including property acquisition for the right-of-way, is about $22 million.
Although traffic will be able to pass over the new road – in both directions – as of Friday, the project will not be completely finished by then, Behzad added. More work remains where the new Butterfield Boulevard extension meets Monterey and Watsonville roads. That part of the project should be completed “within the next month or so.”
