City of Mill Valley Expands Work Hours on East Blithedale, Makes Road One-Way

Earlier this month, Severin Ott, an engineer with Bellecci and Associates and the manager of the city of Mill Valley’s $900,000 overhaul of East Blithedale Ave., told Patch that the project was right on schedule but that “there are always going to be some surprises.”

Those surprises arose over the past week, with a pair of gas line breaks that slowed the work and shutdown East Blithedale completely for several hours. Given the project’s tight schedule – it started June 26 and city officials want to have it done by the time school starts on Aug. 23 – City Hall is unveiling some major changes to the schedule and the traffic plan to speed things up.

Starting Tuesday, the project’s work hours are being extended two hours, starting at 7 a.m. and stopping at 6 p.m. on weekdays. But while East Blithedale neighbors may lament the early morning noise, the city’s other major change will likely be much more impactful.

Starting Tuesday, East Blithedale will be outbound only during those work hours, meaning that the road will be closed to all drivers heading toward downtown from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays until Aug 23.

City officials are directing drivers coming into town during work hours to use Miller Ave. and not to venture onto residential streets in the Sycamore Triangle area or elsewhere.

In an attempt to reduce the impact of making East Blithedale Ave. a one-way street for the next month, city officials said the tiing of the traffic lights in the area will be changed to improve traffic flow during construction hours.

City Hall also added a detour route on Millwood Street to the existing detour on Sunnyside Avenue for Sycamore area residents.

City officials said that East Blithedale residents will be notified 24 hours in advance when sewer trench work is being done in front of their driveways, restricting their access.

Parking will be prohibited in the work zone for the duration of the project, with "No Parking" signs also posted 72 hours in advance of work in those areas.

The project got off to a slow start when rained delayed its outset by two days. But Ott said that delay didn’t push it off schedule. But a subsequent trench cave-in and a pair of accidental breaks in utility lines, put the schedule in a pinch, city officials said. The gas line breaks occurred on July 19 and 24, the latter of which had residents sheltering in place with East Blithedale completely shut down in both directions for several hours.

City Hall apologized for those incidents in a statement on Friday, blaming the “multiple configurations of sewer, gas, and other utility lines placed under (East Blithedale’s) many layers of pavement.”

“We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the gas line breaks and thank all residents for their understanding and patience as emergency personnel worked to mitigate the issues,” city officials said in a statement.

The project itself is happening in two phases.

The first phase involves replacing the sewer lines, manholes and other features of the sewer, and should take about six weeks and cost an estimated $700,000.

The second phase, which will take about three weeks, involves a two-part surface treatment to the road for about $50,000. Workers will first fill in the potholes and cracks and then apply a seal. In the second step, they’ll microsurface the street using an aggregate that’s designed to extend the life of the pavement.

Ott said they’ll go down the whole street doing the sewer repairs, then start back up at Camino Alto and work their way down again for the paving.

The project itself is meant as a temporary fix prior a major overhaul of East Blithedale scheduled to start in 2018 – once the $20 million Miller Avenue Streetscape Plan is complete. 

The overall cost of the interim repairs is $750,000, plus a 20 percent contingency that brings the total to $900,000. It will be paid for through the city’s Municipal Services Tax, which provides $1.2 million a year for road rehabilitations.

For more information, follow the Mill Valley Police Department’s Twitter account @MillValleyPD for updates, sign up for email alerts through the city’s website (click road closures), or contact the East Blithedale Project Hotline at 590-0117 or email publicworks@cityofmillvalley.org. Further information and updates are on the city's website.