Contract Award Launches $4 Million in Improvement Work on Katella Ave.

The $4-million Katella Avenue Street Smart Improvement Project has moved beyond the planning phase, as the City Council recently awarded a $218,760 contract to KFM Engineering Inc. to provide construction management services.

The project is covered by funds from Measure M, the half-cent transportation sales tax approved by voters in 1990. The work will improve Katella Avenue from the San Gabriel River Freeway to Walker Street.

KFM recently completed the final construction plans for the project and will now oversee the road work, which is expected to begin in November.

Improvements will include landscaped medians, right-turn lanes, street widening, new bus shelters and sidewalk repairs.

“It’s a pretty simple job,” said Jeff Lund, the project’s construction manager. “For the most part, it’s just some widening in some areas to help traffic flow.”

Lund said construction should last six to eight months, with work done primarily during the day. Traffic will occasionally be reduced to one lane per direction during the project, but Lund said two-lane flow will be preserved as much as possible.

Last year the city hired KFM to help prepare plans for acquiring rights of way for the project. To buy property for right-turn lanes, $1.49 million was set aside. But only about a third of that was spent buying property, so the remaining $1 million will cover additional construction costs.

The firm will provide additional planning, administration, record-keeping, field engineering and inspections, construction scheduling and logistics, road surveying, consultations, progress reports and project close-out accounting services.

“We’re going to send out a monthly newsletter to the businesses, telling when and what areas will be worked on,” Lund said. “We’re going to try our best to stick to it so the businesses don’t get any surprises.”

Lund said business owners often worry about access to their shops during construction. “We’re going to maintain one entrance at all times to each business at all times,” Lund said.

City officials say they plan to work out an arrangement with the eight telecommunication companies that would like to install fiber-optic lines on Katella Avenue, before construction begins. A moratorium was imposed earlier this month on construction permits so the city could reduce construction on city streets.

Chris Ceballos can be reached at (714) 966-7440.