Sacramento — Today, the League of California Cities^® and County Engineers Association of California (CEAC) announced the winners of the 2019 Outstanding Local Streets and Roads (LSR) Project Awards at their annual Public Works Officers Institute being held in San Diego. Counties and cities throughout California were recognized for creative and cost effective projects that improve local streets, roads and bridges.

Sponsored by the California State Association of Counties® (CSAC), the League and CEAC, the Outstanding LSR Project Awards Program also highlights cities and counties that promote fiscal and environmental sustainability in the local transportation system.

“Local streets and roads are among the many services provided by counties and local governments that impact our daily lives,” said Jim Porter, San Mateo County director of Public Works and president of the County Engineers Association of California. “These awards are important to highlight the innovation in sustainability happening on a local level that can be replicated across the state and nation.”

This year’s top winner, Los Angeles County, takes honors for their Ballentine Place project, which used sustainable pavement treatments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Nearly everyone around the state utilizes local streets and roads, but few realize the amount of effort that goes into maintaining them,” said David Leamon, Stanislaus County director of Public Works and chair of the Local Streets and Roads Awards Committee. “Over the past five years, highlighting the hard work and innovation of counties and cities through this awards program has helped convince Sacramento to further invest tax payer dollars in projects that keep California moving.”

Brief descriptions of the winning projects are included below. Full descriptions of all the winners and finalists are available on the Save California Streets website at www.SaveCaliforniaStreets.org.

Overall Winner

Los Angeles County

Ballentine Place, et al.

Within the residential part of the unincorporated community of Covina Islands, the pavement condition of nearly 5.5 miles of residential roads (903,000 square feet) was rated poor and in need of reconstruction. Los Angeles County Public Works department deployed its three part sustainable approach to pavement treatment to replace the road surface. Their sustainable approach includes preserving roads in good condition, using recycled materials in pavement treatments, and reutilizing materials in-place when reconstructing roads.

The Ballentine Place project included removing the top three inches of the existing asphalt concrete for use in the Cold Central Plant Recycling process and reusing it in place. As a result of this sustainable approach, the Ballentine Place project required fewer construction workdays, mitigating traffic impacts; yielded environmental benefits including a 47 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; 61 percent reduction in energy consumption; 33,000 cubic yards of landfill reduction; and a cost savings of $3.3 million that was reinvested to improve other county roads. The project improved the overall quality of the county’s road network in a cost effective and environmentally friendly way. The county’s three-pronged approach is a straight forward formula for addressing the issues of limited funding and reducing GHG in a practical manner. 

Safety or Intelligent Transportation System Projects

City of San Juan Capistrano

I-5/La Novia Roundabout

For nearly 20 years, the awkward, offset I-5 freeway off-ramp intersection in the City of San Juan Capistrano was the subject of many alternative improvement concepts. The existing stop-sign-controlled intersection was regularly congested, and the complicated geometric design created confusion among commuters, leading to higher than normal traffic incidents. The city’s $2.2 million I-5/La Novia Roundabout project improved the traffic pattern and flow through the re-alignment of the northbound I-5 exit and entrance ramps, Valle Road and La Novia Avenue with a sustainable and modern roundabout design. This is the first roundabout on the state highway system in Orange County and the first to have been formally analyzed and approved through Caltrans’ Intersection Control Evaluation process in District 12.

Complete Streets Project

City of Seaside

West Broadway Urban Village Improvements Project

The City of Seaside is experiencing a transformation as the West Broadway Urban Village project and Specific Plan begins to revitalize the downtown area. This $7 million street improvements project included pedestrian, bicycle, streetscape, roadway and intersection improvements including wider sidewalks, new bike lanes and bike boxes, bulb-outs for safer pedestrian crossing, a new signal light, and a “road diet” that reduced the width of the roadway from a four-lane roadway (two lanes in each direction) to two-lanes (one lane in each direction). Storm drain improvements, bioswales, infiltrators and new sewer main for a future sanitary sewer connection were also constructed. New planters, lighting, landscaping, benches, and other streetscape improvements enhance and encourage pedestrian activity within the revitalized downtown.

Efficient and Sustainable Bridge Maintenance, Construction and Reconstruction Projects

San Mateo County

Crystal Springs Dam Bridge Replacement Project

The Lower Crystal Springs Dam across San Mateo Creek is owned and operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and forms the Crystal Springs Reservoirs, with a combined capacity of 22.5 billion gallons of water. San Mateo County owns and operates the bridge that carries traffic over the dam along Skyline Boulevard, also known as Highway 35. In 1988, the California Division of Safety of Dams reevaluated the Probable Maximum Flood for Crystal Springs Reservoir and deemed the dam’s existing spillway to be too small. In order to construct the spillway improvements, it was necessary to remove the bridge, widen the spillway, and then construct a new bridge on the dam structure. Construction of the new bridge began in February 2016 and was completed in October 2018. The new bridge also includes a 15-foot wide recreational trail that is separated from vehicular traffic to provide improved connectivity for the Crystal Springs Regional Trail users for years to come.  

Efficient and Sustainable Road Maintenance, Construction and Reconstruction Projects

City of Roseville

2018 Roller Compacted Concrete Pilot Project

Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) is a revolutionary pavement that blends the speed and cost of asphalt with the longevity and benefits of concrete pavement. In 2018, the City of Roseville reconstructed more than two miles of existing asphalt pavement road plagued by potholes and roughness using the RCC method. In addition to reduced lifetime maintenance (first recommended maintenance is not until year 20 as compared to every 7 years with asphalt), the costs for the pavement on this project came in about 10 percent lower than expected for a comparable asphalt pavement. Additionally, this method allows for roadways to be open for traffic in as little as two days with cross traffic allowed in as little as one paving shift, versus the 10 days typically required for concrete.

###