The Castroville Bicycle and Pedestrian Path and Railroad Crossing project was constructed by the County of Monterey to provide students a safer route to school by connecting downtown Castroville to Elkhorn Elementary School and North Monterey County High School. The project also provides a safer link in the regional bicycling network that carries travelers from the Monterey Peninsula or Salinas to Watsonville and to Santa Cruz County.
The original design of the bridge included lighting and artistic features in the structure and these elements were incorporated in the $10.6 million construction costs. However, due to a shortage of funding, the County of Monterey eliminated the artwork from the design.
On December 5, 2018, the Transportation Agency Board of Directors approved the use of funds from the Regional Surface Transportation Program set-aside for Complete Streets in an amount not-to-exceed $30,000 for the design, fabrication and installation of decorative treatments on the Castroville Bicycle-Pedestrian Railroad Crossing Bridge to replace the eliminated artwork. The Board also authorized the Transportation Agency's executive director to execute an agreement with the Arts Council for Monterey County to manage the design, fabrication and installation of the decorative treatments on the Castroville bridge.
The art for the project was designed with youths from the North County Recreation and Parks District in Castroville. The Arts Council was notified by the fabricator in November 2019 that March 2020 would be the earliest date the fabrication could completed. That date is well beyond the projected timeline for the project and the expiration date of the contract with the Arts Council. As a result, this staff report seeks the authorization to extend the terms of the contract with the Arts Council from December 31, 2019 to June 30, 2020.