Ridgefield's City Council approved its costliest infrastructure contract last week, awarding $21.4 million to Active Construction for the widening of Pioneer Street and the construction of a new road.
The purpose of the contract is to ease traffic congestion expected from Ridgefield’s future Costco and YMCA.
According to its agreement with the city, contractors will first build North 50th Place, connected to Pioneer Canyon Drive, the city’s newest road. North 50th Place will connect to Pioneer Street through a new roundabout. Ridgefield Public Works Director Chuck Green emphasized the importance of having North 50th Place completed before August, as Costco is slated to open then. The entire contract amount of $21,442,442 includes a $2 million incentive to finish construction on schedule or early.
“We're trying to balance minimizing traffic impacts because Pioneer’s our busiest street … We know that Costco is planning to open in late August, and we want to beat them with [the construction of] North 50th Place and Pioneer Canyon Drive,” Green said.
From fall to the end of the year, Pioneer Street from North 53rd Place to North 56th Place will be widened. Crews will install several culverts for fish to travel through during the process. At the same time, Pioneer Street will be widened from 53rd Place to Royle Road. The phase will end in the spring of next year. Single-lane and complete closures will take place throughout construction. A west leg will be built on Pioneer Canyon Drive in the summer of 2025 for people to access Ridgefield’s YMCA and community center.
Green said the contractor will maintain an aggressive timeline to complete Pioneer Canyon Drive before Costco opens in late August. According to its agreement with the city, the company will work on Sundays, nighttime and holidays to make up for missed days from bad weather. City Councilor Matt Cole addressed concerns about upcoming traffic congestion from the construction posted to social media.
“I know that there’s a lot of apprehension in our community… I would say, let’s all be patient and eagerly await to have something that’s very transformative here in our town,” Cole said. “Until then, there’s gonna be some growing pains in there, so hang tight with us until we get through this because it’s a big one.”
Over $18 million of the bid price will be paid for by limited tax general obligation bonds Ridgefield imposed earlier this year. Additionally, more than $1 million is covered by grants for additional sewer and culvert improvements on Pioneer Street.
“That's the largest amount that I've ever experienced since I've been on this council, which was when we only had 3,000 people, so this is quite expensive,” Mayor Ron Onslow said. “We're looking forward to it, and we'll just see how good [it goes].”
