To All Bear Valley Residents

First, I would like to offer my sincere apology for the significant delays in traffic returning to Bear Valley last night, November 3rd. That was unacceptable and BVPD immediately stepped in to assist the contractor to get traffic flowing faster on the inbound lanes. I want to thank the officers for stepping in and taking over the traffic control to get it moving and resolve as quickly and safely as possible. It was not their responsibility to manage the flow of traffic in the construction zone, but they reacted appropriately for the safety of the community.

This was last night’s communication from the CSD Project Manager to the contractor and on-site construction manager:

“I’m unclear as to what took place this afternoon/evening but it was absolutely unacceptable. The wait to get into Bear Valley was more than an hour long with traffic backed all the way to the 202. We are using the Caltrans Specifications and per the Caltrans' Construction Manual, Section 2-214B, the delay time is a 30-minute maximum. TRAFFIC DELAYS SHOULD NOT EXCEED 30 MIN. Moving forward, starting at 3:00 pm we need to be aware more motorists will be entering Bear Valley than leaving. Can someone please explain what occurred today that resulted in motorists waiting more than an hour to enter Bear Valley? I would also like to know what corrective measures will be implemented to prevent this from happening again.”

This was the response from Bowman Construction when the CSD project manager asked for an explanation:

“First off we want to apologize for the wait to get into Bear Valley. We anticipated being off the road by 5pm. Due to a few break downs and having material already in route it took longer than anticipated. We did not realize the amount of traffic that comes in around 5-6PM. This will not happen again moving forward. “

While this explanation is understandable, it does not explain why the flagging team did not pivot to allowing more cars in than out to reduce the delay time. I have requested the plan for addressing this so that tonight’s commute is not a repeat of last night’s commute. We will publish the plan once we have confirmed it.

Second, I would like to correct misinformation that the failure to address the traffic was somehow related to yesterday’s election. This is untrue, as the decision to allow for later paving hours was discussed a few weeks ago to address the rapidly cooling weather. The CSD project team determined that it would be better to have a few days of minor inconvenience in the evening commute than to pay the overtime costs associated with paving on the weekends because the project budget was already tight. Had the contractor managed the traffic better, the later paving schedule should not have resulted in wait times longer than the CalTrans 30-minute limit.

Paving operations are dictated by Section 39-2.02C of the 2025 Caltrans Standard Specifications, which establishes minimum surface temperature is 50°F and minimum ambient air temperature of 45°F . The construction team has calibrated temperature sensors and does not use the typical weather apps since they are regional and not location-specific.

Again, I wish to express that I understand how disruptive yesterday’s traffic was to everyone. The CSD is aware that this project is much needed and will be an inconvenience no matter how it is managed. However, that does not mean that we should not do everything that we can to minimize that inconvenience. Please know that we will err on the side of efficiency and good project management, but we will also be as sensitive as possible to the impact on our residents.

Thank you again for your patience as we do what we can to complete this section of paving before the cold weather sets in for the Winter.

Respectfully,

Dr. Beverli A. Marshall, ICMA-CM, CSDM

General Manager