$653M Pipeline Proposed to Improve Bay Area Peninsula Water Access (InsideBayArea)

Jan.19, 2009 in Public Works, Water Industry, Water Management, Water Technology

(Jan. 19, 2009, Inside Bay Area)

Construction of a new pipeline designed to improve Peninsula drinking water access will produce considerable noise, traffic and other impacts to homeowners over the next two years, according to officials.

Residents can voice concerns about the proposed 21-mile Bay Division Pipeline project at meetings this week. Some cities have begun expressing reservations about the massive construction plan while acknowledging the short-term annoyances will be worth it in the long run.

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission project calls for a new $273 million pipeline from Fremont to East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Redwood City and unincorporated San Mateo County by way of the Dumbarton Straight. Construction is expected to begin in spring 2010 and take two years.

A separate, five-mile tunnel from Newark to Menlo Park will be built underneath the Bay during the same time, although its construction impact will not be as severe, according to the utilities commission, which recently finished the two projects’ 2½-year planning process. The $380 million tunnel is expected to take five years to construct and will eventually house the new pipeline.

The pipeline project will produce traffic problems, force road closures and generate loud noises, said utilities commission spokeswoman Christina Kerby. Crews should be able to build about 150 feet of pipe per day, she said.

“It won’t be two years all in front of someone’s house,” Kerby said.

Traffic on the Dumbarton Bridge and both its approaches should not be significantly affected, she added.Residents and cities have until Feb. 5 to comment on the project, with a hearing in Menlo Park scheduled for Tuesday and another in Redwood City on Wednesday. The cities involved have yet to officially deliver their comments to the utilities commission but are expected to do so soon.

“There certainly (are) going to be some impacts, it’s a large construction project,” said Menlo Park Public Works Director Kent Steffens. “There will be traffic detours and short-term closures that we will have to plan and notify people of.”

Homes in the unincorporated North Fair Oaks community built atop the existing pipelines will have to make some adjustments, such as moving fences, Kerby said.

San Mateo County planner Will Gibson said the county, which governs North Fair Oaks, was under the impression the utilities commission would work with each homeowner individually.

The project itself will add a new pipeline to transport water to the Peninsula from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, where almost all of San Mateo County’s drinking water originates. It will be built to withstand magnitude 6.8 earthquakes and allow officials to shut down and make repairs on the two existing pipelines, which were built in the 1920s and ’30s and will remain in service on either end of the new tunnel.

As a result, the pipeline project is necessary and the temporary construction affects need to be tolerated, Steffens said.

Tuesday’s meeting will take place at Belle Haven Community School and the Redwood City meeting will take place at the Veterans Memorial Senior Center, both starting at 7 p.m. Written comments can be sent to the San Francisco Planning Department.

The utilities commission expects the San Francisco Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors to approve the final project by August or September.