Richmond Public Works outlines $435 million CIP and new programmatic approach, urges maintenance funding

Public Works Director Daniel Chavarria told the Richmond Neighborhoods Coordinating Council on July 14 that the city now lists about 100 active capital improvement projects on its online CIP dashboard, with an estimated total project cost of roughly $435,000,000 and 41 grant‑funded projects.

Chavarria said about 20 of those projects are substantially complete and staff are deciding when to remove them from the active list. He said the city’s fiscal 2025–26 pipeline includes “a little bit over $180,000,000” in projects and programs and stressed the need to account for ongoing maintenance when new capital is added.

The presentation highlighted specific projects and schedules: the Richmond library renovation (estimated $35 million, work intended for completion in 2027), Harbor A Park (about $12 million, opening this fall and described as Contra Costa County’s first community resilience center), Shields Ridge Park improvements (about $12 million, completion next spring), Boorman Park redesign (about $15 million, completion next spring), the I‑80 Central Interchange Phase 2 (about $40 million, completion 2028, wholly grant‑funded including Measure J and a federal earmark), the 13th Street Complete Street project (over $5 million, completion summer 2027), Terminal 4 shoreline remediation ($7.5 million, completed this spring), the Yellow Brick Road streetscape (phases completed; phase 3 about $5.1 million this summer), a BMX and greenway project in the Iron Triangle (about $1.2 million completed), a replacement project at the wastewater plant (about $55 million, completed last summer), the Green Creek flood reduction (about $3 million, completed last year) and the Santa Rita Road stabilization emergency repair (about $1.2 million, completed this year).

Chavarria described a shift from treating each project as a standalone item to organizing projects into programs (for example, parks & open space, complete streets, sanitary sewer, storm drain & watershed, port improvements, buildings & facilities, equipment/fleet, technology & transportation). He said program teams will rank, sequence and pursue funding for projects so work can be coordinated across programs and utilities, reduce repeated excavations, and improve staff workload management.

On financing and upkeep, Chavarria recommended a planning guideline—setting aside roughly 10% annually of capital costs for maintenance or otherwise budgeting for ongoing operating needs tied to new assets. He warned that building new infrastructure without funding its maintenance risks worsening deferred maintenance problems.

Chavarria also reviewed a new numeric scoring system the council adopted to help compare projects across programs. The system weights equity and required work most heavily (16 points each under the new rubric), with other factors such as deferred maintenance, readiness, environment, economics, quality of life, housing and safety included; projects score on a 0–100 scale to help sequence investments.

Neighborhood council members pressed for clearer, regular updates and better ways to track unfunded requests. Garland Dallas asked why a portion of large building projects’ fees do not automatically go into city infrastructure or park maintenance; Chavarria said the programmatic approach and CIP dashboard are part of the effort to surface needs and recommended processes the council can use to prioritize program funding with the City Council. Chavarria noted an existing list of 40+ unfunded projects that appears in the city’s budget materials and encouraged residents to review budget season reports for details.

He said staff plan to bring a first draft programmatic plan to City Council this fall and that the program teams will produce 5‑year plans by program so the city can sequence work, pursue aligned grants and avoid repeated construction in the same places.

Chavarria closed by emphasizing the operational limits of staff: projects compete for the same personnel as well as funding, so programmatic sequencing is intended to improve efficiency, retain technical staff and coordinate work with utilities and grant cycles.

Ending: Chavarria invited residents to use the CIP dashboard and a dashboard comment form for input; he gave the Public Works administration phone line (510) 620‑5488 for residents who prefer to call for help locating projects on the map.