Groundbreaking Celebration for I-680 Southbound Express Lane and Pavement Rehabilitation from Route 84 to Alcosta Boulevard
April 26, 2023 - Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol, CA
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and project sponsor, Alameda County Transportation Commission (Alameda CTC) broke ground on the I-680 Southbound Express Lane and Pavement Rehabilitation Project between Route 84 and Alcosta Boulevard April 26, 2023. This regionally significant, $326 million project is scheduled for completion in 2026. WMH Corporation (WMH) managed final design of this major project, which was successfully delivered under an accelerated timeline.
William Hadaya, President and CEO of WMH, said “It is very rewarding to see the hard work of our staff over the past two years come to fruition on this extensive project. Thank you to all teams involved for your collaborative efforts on this project!”
The project will widen nine miles of southbound I-680 to add a new High Occupancy Vehicle Lane/Express Lane (HOV/EL) and in so doing complete a continuous fifty-mile segment of the Bay Area’s HOV/EL system between the Benicia-Martinez Bridge in Contra Costa County and Route 237 in Santa Clara County.
WMH Project Manager, Tim Lee, PE, discussed some of the unique challenges that were overcome to deliver this major project to construction, in an interview. An integrated design team was formed with Caltrans and Alameda CTC staff to combine the Alameda CTC HOV/EL project with Caltrans’ pavement rehabilitation project. This would accelerate completion of both projects, significantly reduce capital costs, and minimize impacts to the traveling public.
The project was successfully delivered under an accelerated timeline to meet funding commitments. Any delay to meet the funding deadline would have resulted in state funding for the pavement rehabilitation project being reassigned to another project. WMH had previously led an integrated design team with Caltrans and Alameda CTC to successfully deliver ten miles of HOV/EL and pavement rehabilitation work on northbound I-680 to south of Route 84 with similar funding commitments. The WMH Team’s prior record of successful project delivery played a big part in Caltrans taking the unprecedented step of combining these two major projects.
Ben Razeghi, PE, WMH Deputy Project Manager, said, “This was a challenging project and the plan production size was significant. Working together as an integrated team with Caltrans and AECOM, we were able to meet and even exceed the project delivery goals. Alameda CTC’s Project Manager’s efforts in pushing forward resolutions during the design phase was also really helpful in meeting critical deadlines.”
Project Successes:
- Cost Estimate – the Engineer’s Estimate was within 4 percent of the low-bid estimate. This was a testament to the accuracy and completeness of the construction bid documents.
- Cost Saving Measures – WMH modified the original geometric design by others to avoid reconstructing over 1,000 feet of sound wall founded on retaining wall. This resulted in approximately $30 million in construction cost savings to the project, as well as avoiding construction impacts to adjacent residential property and environmentally sensitive areas.
- Reduce Construction Impacts – Combining the express lane and pavement rehabilitation projects on I-680 will greatly reduce the construction impacts to the public.
- Public Safety Improvements – In addition to adding the HOV/EL and rehabilitating the pavement on this stretch of I-680, the project will also enhance public safety with additional lighting and high-visibility pavement striping for nighttime driving, safety barrier upgrades, and off-ramp shoulder widening.
- Environmental Impact Improvements – Stormwater quality improvements include biotreatment swales/basins to treat pavement runoff before entering public watercourses, and trash management facilities to capture trash for easy clean-up near culvert outfalls.
“We are grateful to our project team and funding partners at Caltrans, the California Transportation Commission and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission for their support,” said Alameda CTC Executive Director Tess Lengyel in the Alameda CTC Press Release.
WMH attendees at the Groundbreaking included: William Hadaya, President and CEO, Tim Lee, Project Manager, Ben Razeghi, Deputy Project Manager.
Photo Credit: Caltrans
