DATE:
TO:
AGENDA REPORT
September 8, 2025
Honorable Mayor and City Council
Item No.
FROM: Fermin Preciado, Director of Development Services/City Engineer r Landon Kern, Assistant City Engineer
Daniel Meisenbach, Construction Engineer)i.
SUBJECT: County Line Road Corridor Improvement Project — Status Update 7 RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council receive an update for the County Line Road Corridor Improvement Project.
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
The County Line Road Corridor Improvement Project (Project) is a joint project between the City of Yucaipa and City of Calimesa that improves County Line Road between Bryant Street and Calimesa Boulevard. The Project included the construction of roundabouts at several intersections and the installation of curb/gutter, sidewalk, driveway approaches, drainage improvements and bike lanes.
Utility relocations and enhancements were also a significant component of the Project.
The construction and construction contract for the Project is being managed by the City of Calimesa in accordance with the executed SB 1 Local Partnership Program (LPP) Grant Funding Agreement between both cities approved by the Yucaipa City Council on October 26, 2020. The Project has been completed. There is some minor utility work remaining to be completed, however both cities are moving forward with the final step in the process and will be repaving the road. The repaving of County Line Road will take place in October and November.
County Line Road is a major arterial street that serves two cities, as well as two counties. As such, County Line Road also serves as a major utility corridor. The following utility companies are completing (or have completed) underground utility work within the Project's limits:
• Southern California Edison (SCE)
• South Mesa Water Company (SMWC)
• Yucaipa Valley Water District (YVWD)
• Frontier Communications
• Spectrum/Charter Communications
• Southern California Gas Co
• San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency (SGPWA),
• California Department of Water Resources (DWR)
City staff coordinated with the City of Calimesa and the various utility agencies listed above to ensure the following occured:
1) The City of Yucaipa and City of Calimesa are updated with the scope of work and schedule for all planned utility work along County Line Road; and
2) The costs for the repaving of County Line Road were determined and agreed upon in advance, to ensure the cities of Yucaipa and Calimesa shared the costs equitably; and 3) Utility agencies performing work along the corridor either complete the required trench/pavement repairs consistent with applicable City standards, or contribute financially towards their fair share of the repaving cost.
4) Utility work schedules were coordinated, planned and permitted by the City of Yucaipa and City of Calimesa.
Additionally, The following list represents several facts and updates on the status of the ongoing utility construction taking place along this corridor:
• The City of Calimesa has an executed construction contract with the contractor and will be closing the contract soon after the contractor completes several minor items. • South Mesa Water Company (SMWC) owns and operates waterlines along the corridor. The replacement of these lines began in the fall of 2024, and was completed in May of 2025.
Pavement repairs associated with the trench construction have been deferred due to the upcoming repaving of the entire street within the limits of the SMWC project. The cities of Yucaipa and Calimesa will continue to work with SMWC to determine the appropriate amount for SMWC to contribute financially to the repaving to address their trenches. • The old existing SMWC waterline located in County Line Road is planned to be rehabilitated and reused. The rehabilitated pipeline will serve as a transmission pipeline for the San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency (SGPWA) and is planned to convey water to a proposed groundwater recharge basin in Calimesa, located west of 3`d Street just south of County Line Road. SGPWA is the lead agency for this project and it was scheduled to be completed by September/October of 2025. Bids were opened on July 23`d and at the August 4th SGPWA Board Meeting, all bids were rejected due to bid irregularities and a bid protest. SGPWA staff was directed to rebid the Project resulting in delays to the project schedule.
• The SGPWA project was rebid, bids were opened on September 3`d, and the award of contract is anticipated to be considered by the SGPWA Board at their September 15th meeting (pending bid results/evaluations). If awarded, construction can occur as early as November/December of this year.
• Due to the SGPWA delay and in an effort to reduce the continued inconvenience to the public, Yucaipa and Calimesa city staff determined that it was best to not wait any longer for utility work to be completed. Both cities decided to proceed with the repaving of County Line Road even though it meant having to trench or cut into a newly paved street to complete additional utility work in the near future.
• The City Council awarded a contract to Matich Corporation on August 25th, 2025 for the FY25/26 Pavement Rehabilitation Project. This contract includes repaving the entire width of County Line Road from Bryant Street to Calimesa Boulevard. • Since both cities moved forward with the repaving of County Line Road, SGPWA has re-scoped their project in an effort to minimize trenching and pavement cuts in the newly repaved road.
With a newly repaved road, SGPWA will be required to repave longer and wider sections of roadway where trenching is required and will have to adhere to the more stringent pavement repair standards for newly paved streets as required by both cities. This may include repaving the entire width of the street depending on the size of the trenches and pavement cuts. • The repaving of County Line Road is anticipated to begin in mid -late October. The contract work will take place in segments to minimize impacts associated with temporary closures and detours. The work will also include permanent striping and signage along County Line Road to accommodate the intersection and bike lane improvements.
Additional information and updates will be provided by staff with the presentation of this report.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The recommendation does not result in a fiscal impact.
Approved by:.,