Page 20 - City of El Centro :: Winter 2021 Community Newsletter

Public Works Project Update
Upcoming New Library
We are proud and excited to share the progress of the new El Centro City Library. With the support of the City Council, staff, through our design consultant Ferguson Pape Baldwin Architects, we’ll complete the library design in January 2021, with construction expected to begin May 2021 and completed May 2022. The new facility will sit at the corner of Imperial Avenue and Villa Avenue in the current parking lot area of the existing temporary library. The building consists of 19,811 square feet of state of the art facilities, which will include reading and activity areas for adults, a teen’s area, a children’s activity area, a homework center and an innovation center. Mobile phone charging ports will be available throughout the facility. The library will include two conference rooms and a patio area, along with new asphalt parking lot and landscaping. The $20 million local Measure P budget for the project includes permitting, design and construction costs.
Upcoming Imperial Avenue Bridge, a Caltrans project
The Imperial Avenue Bridge construction is in full motion! Phase one of construction is complete and phase two, the final phase, has started. The Caltans bridge is expected to open to traffic in the fall of 2021. The Caltrans project will construct a new 4-lane bridge with turn lanes, very similar to the Dogwood Avenue Bridge that will provide connectivity to the south side of the city. The $44 million project budget is funded through the State Regional Improvement Program and the Federal High Priority Projects Program.
Upcoming Imperial Avenue Extension, a City project
The City of El Centro’s Engineering Division is heavy at work at managing the design and construction of the Imperial Avenue Extension project, with the help of the Holt Group Inc., a local design firm. Construction is expected to start in the fall of 2021, with the first two phases complete the fall of 2022. The 4-phase project will construct Imperial Avenue between the new Caltrans Bridge at Interstate 8 and McCabe Avenue. The city is currently funded for the first two phases, which will extend Imperial Avenue between the new bridge at Interstate 8 and towards Danenberg Drive. The project will require property acquisitions, utility relocations and of course, the construction of the roadway. The nearly $10 million project budget for phases 1 and 2 are funded by a combination of Federal Regional Surface Transportation Grant funds, Federal Surface Transportation Block Grant funds, developer Street Impact Fees, SB1 Gas Tax funds and local Measure D funding.
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