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By Brian Hews
The Southern California Gas Company will be performing a “valve automation test” to ensure the structural integrity of a high pressure gas line that runs under Del Amo Blvd. at the intersection of Del Amo and Bloomfield.
The project will last for at least eleven weeks, according to city officials and started this past Monday Feb 1.
The project is actually in Lakewood but encroaches into Cerritos, and the Gas Co. had to pull encroachment permits with Cerritos.
It is a large project necessitating the placement of K-rails and “impact attenuators,” which are the barrels placed at the point of the K-rails to prevent direct impact by a wayward automobile.
As of press time, city officials told HMG-CN that westbound Del Amo east of Bloomfield will be down to one lane approximately one-half mile from the intersection; it was unknown how the eastbound lanes will be affected.
Traffic in this area for the next 3 months is gridlocked, the traffic is backing up on to the Del Amo Bridge. How will this extra weight from this bumper to bumper traffic, impact the structure of this old bridge, since the Del Amo bridge is very old and weak in structure?
Del Amo Boulevard is a major east-west connector road, and heavily used for > 180,000 cars per week. This construction site is very disturbing to the residents who have to use this on a day to day basis, especially for the students being transported through this construction zone: ABC-Los Alamitos-Cypress/Anaheim SD.
How come the gas company is not employing flag men to regulate the traffic flow in this area? Each day there’s a traffic accident from the temporary K rails.
The La Palma Avenue/Del Amo Boulevard Bridge over the Coyote Creek was constructed in 1965
and was taken out of the National Highway System in 1998. La Palma/Del Amo Boulevard is
classified as a major arterial street. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Local
Highway Bridge Program lists the bridge as “structurally deficient”, making it potentially eligible
for federal funding. The bridge carries over 20,000 vehicles per day and directly serves the cities
of La Palma, Cypress, Cerritos, and Lakewood; and significant portions of Orange and Los
Angeles Counties.
The existing bridge is approximately 37 feet wide. The bridge narrows from four lanes to two, with
the east and west approaches on a vertical and horizontal curve. This curve, when combined with
the reduction in traffic lanes, significantly constricts traffic flow and presents traffic safety
concerns. Further, the subject bridge does not provide sufficient pedestrian or bicyclist access
and does not meet current ADA standards for sidewalks.
Replacing the bridge with a four-lane bridge would greatly improve motorist and pedestrian safety.
Proposed improvements include elimination of the existing horizontal curve and re-alignment with
the existing roadway approaches on either side of the bridge. The new bridge will also be brought
into compliance with ADA compliant sidewalks. The re-alignment would also include a Class I
bikeway with connection from the east to west.
Agenda Item 5
Page 2
In recent years, the City has joined the Cities of Cerritos and Lakewood in applying for several
federal grants to rebuild the bridge. Unfortunately, the cities have not received funding for the
project. During the most recent grant process, Cerritos staff was notified that the project would
have been considered for funding if it was “shovel-ready,” and had preliminary design work and
environmental studies complete. Therefore La Palma seeks to begin preparations to request
CTFP grant application funds under the Arterial Capacity Enhancement (ACE) program through
the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA). The City of Cerritos has requested Measure
R funds through the regional body Gateway Cities Council of Governments (COG). This COG
aims to improve the region’s transportation, air quality, housing, and economic development.
The preliminary design and environmental work is estimated to cost approximately $3.5 million.
As approximately 40% of the bridge is located in Orange County, La Palma submitted a grant
application to use $1.2 million of Measure M2 funds for the preliminary work. The grant application
package was submitted to the OCTA on October 23, 2015. OCTA is currently reviewing all the
grant applications. At the same time, Cerritos obtained $2.2 million in Los Angeles County
Measure R funds for this work through the COG.
If Measure M2 and R funds are allocated to the project, Cerritos will serve as the lead agency and
staff will proceed with obtaining environmental and engineering related services from qualified
firms through a Request for Proposal process and submit a recommendation for Council
consideration.
In order to secure the grant funds, the City is required to adopt a Resolution requesting the OCTA
allocate funds in the amount specified in the City’s application from the CTFP. The funds shall
be matched by funds from the City as required and shall be used as supplemental funding to aid
in the design, engineering, and environmental work for the La Palma Avenue/Del Amo Boulevard
Bridge Replacement Project in the City of La Palma (ACE -Application for the Engineering Phase).
If La Palma is unable to secure M2 funding, the project will not proceed at this time.
The United States government is proposing to spend $478 billion on the nation’s roads, bridges,
transit systems, and railways over the next six years. If the preliminary design and environmental
work for the La Palma/Del Amo Bridge replacement are funded and completed, the cities will
apply for a federal grant to continue and build the project.
The following La Palma City Council Agenda has been posted to the City’s website and is available for viewing:
Regular Meeting – February 16
[http://www.cityoflapalma.org/Archive.aspx?ADID=1913]
Del Amo Bridge Study
http://www.cityoflapalma.org/DocumentCenter/View/5910