Pacifica Riptide

Devil's Slide to Become Family Fun Destination

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No Light at the End of the Tunnel: Delayed Job $30M Over Budget

Contract change orders responsible for price overruns.

BY CAMDEN SWITA, PACIFICA PATCH
Caltrans' Devil's Slide Tunnels project has run about $30 million over budget, the Half Moon Bay Review reported Wednesday. According to the Review, the cost overruns are a result of several contract change orders made by the state transportation agency over the past four years. The change orders have revised contracts for things such as steel reinforcements and repairs of cracks found by engineers. The extra $30 million brings the total price tag of the project, which would connect the Midcoast to Pacifica, to just over $300 million, the Review reported. Other recent project setbacks have cost both time and money, such as the discovery of "strange" soil patterns that will delay the opening of the tunnels to late 2012 and legal trouble between two area water districts earlier this year.

Devil's Slide Tunnels South Portals: It's Faux Real!

 


Last week, workers cleared away construction materials and finally exposed the south portals of the Devil's Slide Tunnels. Just opposite the portals, on the ocean side of Highway 1, is a strange-looking, monolithic structure: a faux rock texture and paint sample wall. It's faux real!

MITCH REID

Devil's Slide Tunnels Opening Delayed at Least a Year

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Devil’s Slide tunnels delayed
July 18, 2011, 03:30 AM By Bill Silverfarb, Daily Journal staff
Photo courtesy of Caltrans

The tunnel project at Devil’s Slide will be delayed at least a year as crews have encountered soil movement which creates the need for extra reinforcement work. The two tunnels at Devil’s Slide will not open until late in 2012, putting the project more than a year behind schedule, according to Caltrans. The delay will also push the cost higher for the $350 million project that got under way in 2007, although Caltrans has yet to determine the added cost. Last month, Caltrans said the project would be delayed until mid-2012 but earlier this week adjusted the date toward the end of 2012 due to tunnel soil movement, which will require more reinforcement work. Caltrans was hoping to have the project completed by the end of this year. The project was actually four weeks ahead of schedule when construction crews punched through Montara Mountain back in October.

Half Moon Bay Councilman Allan Alifano is not too concerned with the delay but hopes Devil’s Slide can hold up another year while tunnel work is completed. The dangerous stretch of road on Highway 1 between Montara and Pacifica is prone to landslides. It was closed for five months after an April 2006 storm caused the road to slip toward the ocean. The last major closure on Devil’s Slide was caused by a landslide in January 2008. When Devil’s Slide is closed, traffic is forced to access the coast via State Route 92, a major inconvenience for commuters, Alifano said. The tunnels will make for quicker commutes, Alifano said, although he is not convinced yet they will bring Half Moon Bay more tourists, which the town depends on to fund core services.

The scope of the project includes constructing two tunnels, two bridges linking Highway 1 in Pacifica to the tunnels, approaching road revisions south of the tunnels, equipment buildings and an office building. The bypassed section of Highway 1, together with 70 acres of right-of-way the state owns, will be available for public access and recreational use following the planned tunnel opening in late 2012, according to Caltrans. Caltrans will also monitor and improve the state of wetlands, wildlife and plants in the area.

The tunnels will be named after Tom Lantos, the late San Mateo congressman who secured $175 million in federal funds for the bypass. Lantos had worked for three decades to bring the project’s plans to light and dedicated the two tunnels before he died in early 2008 at the age of 80.

Bill Silverfarb can be reached by email: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.

Devil's Slide Tunnels Contest: April 30 Deadline

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Devil's Slide History: The Devil's in the Details

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Devil's Slide Tunnels: The Digging Is Done

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All that's left to do now is the finishing touches: paving, coating, wiring, etc. About a year from now we may be able to drive through the tunnels we voted for 15 years ago.

Curves

Completed bridge over Shamrock Ranch awaits opening of Devil's Slide Tunnels sometime next year. (Bob Pilgrim photo)

Long and Winding Road to Devil's Slide Tunnels

TWISTS AND TURNS OF DEVIL'S SLIDE

Devil's Slide: Light at the End of the Tunnel (VIDEO)

It was a historic day (October 1, 2010) at foggy Devil's Slide Tunnels as Caltrans, Kiewit, United Mineworkers, tunnel activists, and a throng of local politicians and media greeted the northbound roadheader busting through the last few feet of rock. The Doors' song Break On Through to the Other Side was supposed to be the theme music for the official punch-through, but U.S. Congresswoman Jackie Speier's aide couldn't get his MP3 player to work. Speier saved the day with a bad pun about the "boring" event (groans from the crowd). More speeches followed: State Senator Leland Yee, State Assemblyman Jerry Hill, San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon, and Pacifica Mayor Sue Digre, plus tributes to the visionaries who made the tunnels possible (Lennie Roberts, Mitch Reid, and the late Congressman Tom Lantos). Lennie and Mitch call this federal/state/county undertaking "the people's tunnels." The Devil's Slide Tunnels on Highway 1 are set to open for traffic in about a year.

JOHN MAYBURY

PACIFICA RIPTIDE EDITOR & PUBLISHER

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