Del Mar Council approves construction contract for Streetscape

The Del Mar City Council on Oct. 29 approved a $5.1 million construction contract to revitalize Camino Del Mar.

The council unanimously accepted Tri-Group Construction and Development, Inc.’s bid of $5,153,874 to construct the Downtown Streetscape plan, which would revitalize the area with features such as a new roadbed, sidewalks, trees, streetlights, four-way crosswalks, and street art.

Following the council’s Sept. 17 approval to approach the project in one fell swoop rather than several phases, the city received five bids, with Tri-Group offering the lowest amount of money, according to city staff.

The total cost of the project — including the construction contract, design billings, inspections, landscape work and geotechnical services — is $6,764,000. A portion of the funds will come from Measure Q and an existing Streetscape project budget. The city will have to finance $1,499,844, and staff expects to return to the city at the end of the year with ideas on how to finance that portion.

Initially, city staff had expected the total costs to be about $7.1 million.

Council member Ellie Haviland said the city should be proud it came in under budget and that the project was finally coming to fruition.

She cautioned, however, that this could just be the beginning.

“This is an awesome start to Streetscape but people are going to want more when it’s done,” Haviland said.

Streetscape construction is expected to begin following the Thanksgiving holiday, said Mohsen Maali, deputy public works director. City staff expects most of the project to be complete by July.