Mitchell Road will continue to be improved with the approval of a $741,629 contract for an overlay awarded to Knife River Construction.
The new work will resurface Mitchell Road from Whitmore Avenue to Roeding Road. In recent years the city of Ceres has accomplished the resurfacing of Mitchell Road from the Tuolumne River bridge to Whitmore Avenue.
The overlay will be similar to the 2013 overlay involving rubberized asphalt.
A $50,000 grant from Cal Recycle encouraged the city to go with the more expensive rubberized asphalt. City Manager Toby Wells said that with the rubberized version costing about 17 percent more than conventional asphalt, the city won't be using such materials in the future unless the costs come down or grant funds make up the difference.
CalRecycle is offering the grants to help introduce cities and counties to rubberized asphalt to help create a market for repurposed rubber used from grounded up used tires.
Besides less tire noise, rubberized asphalt has other benefits, he said. They include the environmental use of reusing recycled rubber, and giving the road better structural life. It's estimated that rubberized asphalt gives 25 percent longer life to the road.
Wells said that as a general rule of thumb, a typical street overlay lasts about 15 years but noted that Mitchell Road is well traveled with 40,000 cars per day which reduces asphalt life.
George Reed, Inc., which was awarded the last Mitchell Road job, lost out with its second place bid of $832,006. Teichert Construction was close behind with a bid of $833,986.
Wells said he doesn't have a definite starting date for the construction.
"Without talking to the contractor I would guess the construction starting in late October," said Wells. "With the winter approaching, both the start and completion will be weather dependent."
At last week's City Council meeting, members also awarded two contracts for work on Whitmore Avenue west of Highway 99.The council gave George Reed, Inc., a $1.23 million contract to widen Whitmore Avenue to full width from Morgan Road to Blaker Road. The project also calls for 740 feet of storm drain pipe to be installed in the ground, 1,090 feet of 8-inch sewer pipe and 230 feet of sewer and water service connection lines. Some widening will also take place on Morgan Road just north of Whitmore Avenue as the city makes intersection improvements.
The second contract was awarded to Tim Paxin's Pacific Excavation, Inc., to make improvements to the Whitmore/Morgan intersection. The $188,362 contract to the Elk Grove firm includes moving the traffic signal and curb ramps to their ultimate position, allowing for much improved traffic flows through the intersection.