LaBrucherie project is the culmination of years of work
EL CENTRO — About 45 days into an ambitious construction job to expand LaBrucherie Avenue from two lanes to four, resident Phil Moran said he couldn’t be happier with the way the city is handling the project.
“They’re doing a pretty good job of keeping the dust down, keeping the area clean, and keeping it all accessible,” he said Monday.
Accessibility is key for Moran; he lives and operates his licensed contracting business in the blast pattern of the work zone, around 200 yards to the west of LaBrucherie Avenue, on the corner of Olive Avenue and 21st Street.
Moran said he’ll deal with traffic delays, even if they last another six to eight months, for the relief that will come from an expanded roadway. “When school is in, and as narrow as it’s been, there can be 15 to 20 cars deep at the intersection,” he said of conditions before construction got under way.
“I think it’s all good. I’m happy to see it,” Moran added of the work.
Imperial Irrigation District and AT&T vans and trucks could be seen in the area Monday, as workers with both utility companies continued to move power lines and network cables in the area, said Abraham Campos, director of the El Centro Public Works Department.
City officials are likely hoping all residents are as understanding as Moran, considering the LaBrucherie project, which started Aug. 27, isn’t projected to be finished until March 30, 2019.
“We’ve been in very close communication with residents fronting the properties (along LaBrucherie). We’re thankful to them . ... It’s going to better when it’s done. We’re all looking forward to this new and improved way of traveling through LaBrucherie Avenue,” Campos said Monday.
Mayor Cheryl Viegas Walker seconded that sentiment. “The project has been a long time coming; probably one of the segments of roadway the city has had the most complaints from residents about because it is so heavily traveled.
“Because we’re now able to expand it to the four lanes that it is planned for, it’s going to greatly enhance mobility in that area, whether you’re traveling from Imperial, El Centro or Calexico,” Walker continued.
Campos described the project as being in the thick of Phase 1, which looks to move utilities, rebuild the single-lane road into two lanes and install curbs, gutters and sidewalks on the western side of LaBrucherie from Orange Avenue to the south, to Barbara Worth Drive to the north.
Around the end of 2018 or first of 2019, construction will change sides, as Phase 2 moves forward in rebuilding and expanding the east side of the avenue, Campos said.
He said IID, the Gas Co. of Southern California, Spectrum and AT&T, as well as the El Centro Elementary School District have all been working well together and in close coordination to make sure the project goes over without any major hitches and that all project timelines are met. Granite Construction won the construction contract and Dynamic Consultant Engineers is managing construction, Campos added.
When all is said and done, the project will have cost around $4.5 million, Campos said, between construction, engineering and acquiring property on LaBrucherie Avenue.
Construction alone cost the city $3.2 million, which was paid for largely paid for through voter-approved Measure D half-cent sales tax monies by way of the Imperial Valley Local Transportation Authority, Walker and Campos said. Campos added that about $255,000 of the project cost came from the state gas tax, which voters will be asked whether to repeal in the November election.
Widening LaBrucherie Road has been on the city’s wish list for a long time, but issues of eminent domain delayed the project for about two years, Campos and Walker said.
“What you’re seeing out there is basically the culmination of about five years of work,” Campos said.
The city had to acquire two properties along LaBrucherie in order to make the expansion happen. Walker said using eminent domain was a costly process that required the project be fully funded from the start. “Having all of those pieces in place, it did take a significant period of time,” she said.
“But it’s going to be worth the wait,” the mayor added.
Eminent domain is a government’s, or its agent’s, right to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation.
Moran may be pleased with the project, but Campos understands there might be more than a few morning and afternoon travelers cursing the project as traffic delays dot the area. “Sometimes citizens ask about construction and it causes questions,” he said, “but it’s a necessary evil till we get to a better place.”
Still, Moran did joke that while this isn’t the city’s problem, if he’s learned anything from the LaBrucherie project, it’s that local drivers don’t know how to use four-way stops.
With the traffic signal at the corner of LaBrucherie and Main Street offline during construction, the intersection is back to good ol’ stop signs.
“The aggravating thing for me are all the ding dongs out there who can’t use a four-way stop,” Moran said.