Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Project Costs topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Redwood traffic-signal estimate jumps; board weighs project priorities and contingencies
Summary
District staff told trustees a Redwood traffic-signal line item rose from $945,000 to $1,620,000 after consultants flagged the need for a turn lane and roadway widening. Trustees discussed how that change and 35% soft costs affect prioritization and whether to trim projects to meet different levy scenarios.
District staff told the board that the estimate for the Redwood traffic-signal project increased sharply after consultants identified a needed turn lane and roadway widening.
“That went from 945,000 a week ago to 1,620,000,” the superintendent (speaker 2) said, explaining the higher cost stems from civil work required to add a turn lane into the school site. Staff said the original figure omitted that requirement and noted ZCS produced the updated estimate.
Trustees pressed how the turn lane should be categorized — as part of the drop-off/pick-up work or as a separate traffic-signal project — and asked staff to verify whether the city or county would require the signal and related right-of-way work. Staff said this specific scope detail needed confirmation from ZCS and from local jurisdictions.
Board members also discussed contingency and escalation assumptions: staff said they are using about 35% in soft costs (which includes contingency) and an escalation assumption of about 6% for a one-year horizon and higher in extreme cases. That means the district must leave room in the bond for soft costs, escalation and fees or else scale back work at some sites.
What to watch: whether staff reclassifies the turn-lane cost within the project list and whether the board chooses a levy size that includes contingency sufficient to cover such civil work.
