UNION CITY, Calif. — Union City is expected to look a lot different 10 years from now, with more housing, transit, buffered bike lanes and a restored Old Alameda Creek.
The city has spent $1.2 million already on preliminary design work for the book ends, of the Quarry Lakes Parkway project, also known as the East-West Connector project, and on Tuesday, the City Council unanimously authorized the city manager to amend the existing contract with Mark Thomas & Company to cover the $3 million needed to complete the final design and cost estimates for phases 1 and 2. The council also authorized the city manager to execute a $2,296,360 million contract for the preliminary engineering work and cost estimates for phases 3 and 4.
The civil engineering consulting firm is helping the city update a roadway design developed in 2011. In 2020, the city sought funding from the Alameda County Transportation Commission to properly design and construct the roadway and was granted the funds for phases 1 and 2.
But instead of completing phases 1 and 2, the city decided, with the transportation commission’s agreement, to spend a portion of those funds on phases 3 and 4 because of how complicated the drainage situation is.
“The challenge that we have is that the drainage system traverses both (phases) 3 and 4, starting in 1 and ending in 2, but traversing 3 and 4,” Malloy said. “So in order for us to do good quality design work in 1 and 2, we have to have a better understanding of 3 and 4 and that will also inform us as we do an updated cost estimate.”
The city expects to present a full funding plan to the county Transportation Commission in May 2023
The city is working on the project with several other agencies, including BART, AC Transit, the city of Fremont, and the Alameda County Flood Control District.
