San Gabriel : Bids Sought for Mission Plan

The plan to beautify the district near the San Gabriel Mission moved ahead last week when the City Council unanimously agreed to seek contractors’ bids for the first phase of the project.

The council accepted most of the blueprints for improvements that would generally be along Mission Drive between Las Tunas Drive and Junipero Serra Drive without change--including the addition of trees, benches, paving and street lamps.

The plan--budgeted at $1.15 million, 90% of it expected to come from state and county funds, according to city officials--will also extend Plaza Park to the mission walls by closing Mission Drive between Ramona Street and Junipero Serra Drive.

However, the council asked the Dike Partnership of Irvine, the project’s designer, to rethink some details, including traffic flow near the San Gabriel Civic Auditorium and pedestrian safety at the corner of Mission Drive and Ramona Street.

Revisions should not delay the bidding process, City Administrator P. Michael Paules said, adding that work on the project might begin in October and could be completed by March, 1994.