San Vicente Road crews prepare for Stage 2, waterline relocation
Anyone driving San Vicente Road to or from San Diego Country Estates at night may see light towers brightening the sky as crews work in certain sections on an underground waterline.
According to Michael Long, county project manager for the San Vicente Road Improvement Project, crews have been working on the water main on San Vicente Road from Warnock Drive to Bunnie King Lane. During the week of Jan. 18, crews will be undertaking a section between Bunnie King and a spot south of Deviney Lane, and the following week they will continue farther south of Deviney Lane.
The work is related to the relocation of 19,000 feet of waterline owned by the Ramona Municipal Water District and installed in the county right-of-way in 1973. Although that was allowed by state law, there was a requirement that the district would have to pay to relocate its pipeline when the county made road improvements.
Because of the age of the water main, a new pipeline will be installed with the work conducted by the county’s contractor, Flatiron West Inc. of San Marcos. By aligning its project with the county, the water district said it will save money on the nearly $5 million relocation.
Among work on the road improvements that are under way are culvert drainage installations at driveways, drainage ditch construction and utility underground conduit installation. Long said crews have been grading for temporary stage 2 roadway detours, clearing and grubbing, and cutting and filling for construction of the new roadway alignment.
Stage 2 of the three-stage project is scheduled to start in February and overlap with stage 1.
During stage 2 traffic will be shifted to the outer edge or the temporary roadway while the contractor builds new lanes, according to the county.
The project calls for widening the road and realigning curves from Warnock Drive to 1,000 feet east of Wildcat Canyon Road, a distance of 2.25 miles, to improve sight distance and safety.
The project hotline and email had received only one email about minor delays due to the movement of heavy construction equipment since November, said Long, but last week he got a call from the San Diego Country Estates Homeowners Association about complaints of the road width in many places having little to no shoulder. The complaints have been addressed, he said: More turnout areas have been added, and the county and contractor are working with Cal Fire, California Highway Patrol and San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.
“We are working with emergency services on an ongoing basis,” said Long.
The project has experienced some minor weather and red-flag warning delays, he said, “but nothing that wasn’t expected.”
During rain, he said, measures are taken to control erosion and operations are suspended.
The approximately $23 million road project is expected to be completed in spring 2016 and will include bike lanes on both sides, a 10-foot decomposed granite pathway on the south and west sides and a 10-foot graded parkway on the north and east sides.
Residents with questions or concerns may contact the project hotline at 877-291-6565, or email SVR@adease.com.