Delay, cost run-ups emerge from overhaul of Boulevard.

The overhaul of a 2.5-mile stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard, which contractors and city officials initially vowed to complete on time and at budget, is at least seven months behind schedule and $10 million over budget.

Decisions by the Metropolitan Water District and the Department of Water & Power to replace 11,000 feet of underground pipes after plans were first approved played a large role in pushing the targeted completion date to March 2006 from an originally scheduled August 2005.

The projected overall cost is now $77.5 million.

Meantime, the 800 businesses on or near the stretch of road from the San Diego (405) Freeway to the Beverly Hills city line are bracing for a test of their financial wherewithal. Commuters face a continuation of traffic disruptions.

"It's been a hardship for a lot of businesses and will continue to be a hardship," said Renato Romano, vice president for local government and community affairs at the West L.A. Chamber of Commerce. "People don't stop to shop around there."

In explaining the delay, officials for the project's contractor, Excel Paving Co., cite mistakes by the city.

Project manager Randy Mason said Excel had to redesign the retainer wall between the "big" and "little" boulevards because the city had ordered the wrong materials. Workers also found decades-old underground utility lines in 15 areas that were not on current city maps. The discoveries halted construction while they determined whether to relocate the lines or redesign the new storm drains to go around them.

"When you get into underground problems that are unforeseen, that can really create delays," said Mason. "We don't feel we made any mistakes."

City officials admit that they are partly but not fully to blame.

"The contractor probably has some culpability as well as the city," said Carl Nelson, project manager for the Los Angeles Department of Public Works. "The pipelines are the obvious delay, but when you start getting down to more detailed pieces of work, the (delays) become a day here and a day there."

The city has agreed to renegotiate the project's original terms, which called for the Long Beach company to receive a bonus of as much as $1 million if it completed the project 80 days ahead of schedule--and penalties of $3,500 a day if it came in late.

Plans call for most of Little Santa Monica Boulevard to be torn up, with the space used for a remade Santa Monica Boulevard with three lanes in each direction. A large median adorned with 100 trees will separate the east-west traffic.

Excel is conducting its work in six phases, using the old median between the big and little boulevards as a detour road for eastbound or westbound traffic as the work alternates between the two.

The detour for the first portion of road being rebuilt was supposed to be completed several months ago, but it will not be done until this week. After that, workers will concentrate on extending the median in Century City while preparing portions of Santa Monica Boulevard for makeover.

The current timeline calls for construction to focus on the stretch of Santa Monica between Beverly Glen Boulevard and the Beverly Hills line from July through October, and from the freeway east to Selby Avenue from October to next April. The portion between Selby and Pandora avenues will now be completed in August 2005, the original completion date for the entire project.

The center median beautification project will be done in a final phase, along with repaving Little Santa Monica from Overland Avenue east to Beverly Glen.

Many business owners are taking a grin-and-bear-it approach. La Cachette, the high-end French restaurant at 10506 Little Santa Monica Boulevard, has put up maps in its bathrooms offering alternative routes.

Yet even with the steady client base, the eatery has suffered, especially during lunch when 40 to 60 customers are served daily, down from 60 to 80 before construction began. "It's hurt us but we're not devastated," said Allie Ko, co-owner of La Cachette.

To make up for the temporary loss in parking, the city has created a 26-space lot off Little Santa Monica Boulevard while Verizon Wireless donated the use of 20 of the spaces in its under-utilized lot.

It also has committed $700,000 for its own outreach program, which includes distribution of brochures advertising the area's businesses and monthly meetings with business owners and residents to update them on the project's progress.

"This is a tough job in a vibrant community," said Nelson. "Our goal is to keep drivers on the boulevard, keep the businesses open and minimize the impact on the community."

The project is funded by Caltrans, the L.A. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the federal government, the county and the city. These agencies met several years ago and designated the L.A. Department of Public Works in charge of key decisions.

The MWD is spending $7 million and the DWP $3 million to replace underground water pipes installed in the 1920s through the 1940s.

City officials said the roots from new trees would eventually wrap around the old pipes and loosen the joints with tension when trees sway in stiff winds.

"Trees always try to find their way to water," said Nelson.

The DWP completed its pipe replacement May 11 while the MWD, which contracted the work to Excel, won't have its new pipes in place until shortly before the project is complete.

Excel and the city have yet to re-establish a target date regarding the company's prospects for earning a bonus.

Under the original agreement, Excel would have received $12,500 for each day the project is completed before the deadline, with a maximum of 80 bonus days. Conversely, the contract stipulates that Excel will be penalized $3,500 per day for each day the project is behind.

Asked if he believed the company should still qualify for the $1 million bonus, Mason said, "Absolutely. There were changes in the project that were unforeseen. We're still working that (new deadline) out with the city."