ROAD PROJECT'S BID PERIOD EXTENDED.

Byline: Angela M. Lemire Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Engineering complexities of the massive Golden Valley Road project, plus ongoing studies of the Department of Toxic Substance Control, have extended the bid period for the $15 million contract and slightly pushed back construction.

The bid period, initially scheduled from Nov. 11-Dec. 29, was extended until Jan. 11 to give potential bidders ample time to prepare proposals to meet new specifications added to the officials request for proposal, said city Management Analyst Kevin Tonoian.

The extension also would enable bidders to tailor their proposals around the DTSC's forthcoming report on the project site.

The state oversight agency is expected to release its findings on foreseen impacts and constraints within the next few weeks, he said.

The City Council is expected to award the grading and construction contract at its Jan. 25 meeting, pushing the likely construction start-up date to February, he said.

City officials had eyed late January as the start-up date to begin grading Phase One of the three-phased, $15 million Golden Valley Road project, which would extend a stumped Golden Valley Road segment in Saugus over two miles through Friendly Valley to intersect Sierra Highway to the south.

The city is working with the William S. Hart Union High School District and Santa Clarita Valley Facilities Foundation to grade Phase One, the road's most southern segment, because school officials plan to build Golden Valley High School there, provided that the DTSC declares the land safe as a school site.

School officials regard the road construction schedule as critical, because it coincides with grading at the school site. The high school has been slated for a September 2001 opening.

"At the front end, we've added another two weeks, but the city would actually save time in the long run by including the addendum in the RFP," Tonoian said.

He added, "At the back end, it's going to save us much more time than that, because the bidders will have a better idea of what their costs will be."

Tonoian described the recent RFP addendum as containing numerous clarifications on "finer points of engineering," that would better guide potential bidders in preparing cost estimates of the $15 million project.

Many bidders who attended a mandatory pre-bid conference on requested clearer specifications, he said.

"Golden Valley Road is such a complex project, with so many components. They wanted more information up front, to come up with closer estimates," Tonoian said.

"If the contractor and the city has to change those prices later, there may have to be contract amendments and change orders. That would take much longer than two weeks," Tonoian added.