(January 28)  The county of San Bernardino is preparing to pay half of a million dollars more than it earlier anticipated to acquire property for the Cherry Avenue Interchange Reconstruction Project.
The interchange project was previously slated as a  $61,546,000 undertaking to improve traffic access to the Fontana area through the I-10 Cherry Avenue Interchange, which lies at the far west end of Fontana near the unincorporated county frontier between Fontana on the east and the cities of Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario on the west.
On March 23, 2010, the county board of supervisors approved Cooperative Agreement No. C10191 with the  San Bernardino County Transportation Authority and the city of Fontana  to establish the roles and responsibilities for administering and funding the original $9,503,000 estimated cost of completing the right-of-way work for the project. The county was identified as the lead agency for the right-of-way services, which included property acquisition, appraisal, and utility relocation. On January 25, 2011, the board approved entering Cooperative Agreement No. C10191 with the authority and the city to establish the roles and responsibilities for construction and funding of the original $61,546,000 estimated construction cost for the project. In accordance with the agreement, the authority would serve as lead agency for the construction phase of the project.
According to Gerry Newcome, the county director of public works, “Construction costs for the project are anticipated to be less than originally estimated, but the right-of-way costs for the project have increased due to additional right-of-way work, such as property permit-to-enter agreements, billboard relocation support, cell tower site relocations, site clearance, and third party utility relocation work. The authority, county, and city have agreed to shift $500,000 of the fund savings from the construction phase to the right-of-way phase to fund the increased costs in that phase. Therefore, Cooperative Agreement No. C11091 for construction needs to be amended to reflect the reduced construction costs and the reduced financial contribution amounts from each party. Further, Cooperative Agreement No. C10191 needs to be amended to reflect the increased right-of-way costs and the required financial contribution amounts from each party. Since the construction savings are being used to finance the right-of-way increases, there is no net increase in required financial contribution from the parties.”
Thus, while the right-of-way cost on the project will increase by $500,000, from $12,503,000 to $13,003,000, there will be a $1,265,000 decrease in the cost of the construction phase of the project, from $61,546,000 to $60,281,000.
“With the adjustments,” Newcombe said, “it is anticipated that the net result is that the county’s overall share of cost for the project is not increasing and remains estimated at $18 million.”