The use of county Department of Transportation personnel rather than a contractor allows projects which are less complex and of a maintenance nature to be performed more efficiently due to the time and cost savings from not generating engineered plans and contract specifications and from not having inspection costs. An August 27 Riverside County Board of Supervisors action approved force account, or in-house, work to construct or reconstruct 36 roads throughout unincorporated Riverside County including 19 in Anza, Hemet, Lakeland Village, Menifee Valley, and Winchester.
The supervisors voted 5-0 to approve force work for the road segments. The state’s Public Contract Code allows road construction to be performed by employees of a public agency if the work does not exceed 30 percent of the value of all work performed other than maintenance and if the intent to use force work is declared prior to commencing the work, which a Board of Supervisors public hearing does.
Ten of the roads will be new construction. Those streets will be added to the county-maintained road system and will have a dedicated right-of-way for public use.
Four of those new construction roads are in the Good Hope and Meadowbrook areas. Four of the new roads will be in Lakeland Village: Ginger Lane from Grand Avenue to the end of the county right-of-way, an undedicated dirt road between Moss Drive and Arbolado Lane which will be constructed from Grand Avenue to the end, Richard Street from Grand Avenue to the end, and Danny Lane from Grand Avenue to the end. The other two new roads will be in Winchester: Willard Street from State Route 79 to Whittier Avenue and Whittier Avenue from Simpson Avenue to Willard Avenue.
The county crews will reconstruct Briggs Road from Pat Road to Gold J Lane in Menifee Valley, Olive Drive from Whittier Avenue to 562 feet north of Whittier Avenue in Winchester, and Bautista Road from 3,432 feet south of State Route 79 to State Route 371 in Anza. The ten Hemet road segments to be reconstructed are Chestnut Drive from Tiffany Lane to 1,375 feet southeast of Tiffany Lane, Greenwood Drive from Chestnut Drive to 293 feet east of Chestnut Drive, Jamaica Lane from Chestnut Drive to 278 feet east of Chestnut Drive, Malibar Avenue from Yale Street to 622 feet west of Yale Street, Mulberry Drive from Girard Street to Tellis Place, Poppy Drive from San Jacinto Street to Tellis Place, Sanalamar Drive from Girard Street to Wheeler Drive, Tellis Place from Mulberry Drive to 422 feet north of Mulberry Drive, Tiffany Lane from Chestnut Drive to 295 feet east of Chestnut Drive Hemet, and Wheeler Drive from Girard Street to Sanalamar Drive.
The county expects to spend $10,070,540 for staff time and materials to construct or reconstruct the roads. Revenue from the Road Repair and Accountability Act, which was passed by the state legislature in 2017 and raised the gas tax by 12 cents per gallon while raising annual vehicle registration fees from $25 to $175 based on vehicle value, will fund $6,200,540. The Unincorporated Communities Initiative fund for improving infrastructure and services provided to residents of unincorporated communities with an emphasis on disadvantaged unincorporated communities will account for $2,680,000. The remaining $1,190,000 will utilize Community Development Block Grant funding provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Joe Naiman can be reached at jnaiman@reedermedia.com.
