The Ceres City Council on Feb. 8 awarded a construction contract for the creation of a new roundabout at El Camino Avenue and Pine/Park.

Out of five bidders Cal Valley Construction was awarded the contract in the amount of $519,390. A 10 percent contingency brings the total to $571,329. An additional $45,833 will be used for construction surveying and staking and materials and compaction testing, bringing the project to a total cost of $617,162.

The project will use state and federal funding sources and will not use any city funds. The project is mostly being funded by the federal Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality (CMAQ) program with matching funds coming from SB 1.

The project consists of constructing a roundabout at El Camino Avenue and the Pine/Park Street intersection including concrete curb, sidewalks, medians, hot mix asphalt surfacing, pavement marking and striping, roadway signs, landscaping and street lighting.

City of Ceres Public Works Director Jeremy Damas said the new roundabout will provide traffic calming measures while improving traffic flow. It will also help, he said, in the detours once the city and Caltrans begin building the new Service/Mitchell/ Highway 99 interchange.

The roundabout will be at the eastern portion of the Pine Street Overpass, east of the new roundabout at Pine Street/Central Avenue/Industrial Way. In 2019 the city finished a new roundabout at Morgan Road and Aristocrat Drive.