| Published December 7th, 2011 | New Parking Lot on the Starting Block | By Sophie Braccini | | | The Moraga Town Council is moving forward with plans to build a new parking lot alongside the Moraga Commons Park on Moraga Road - a consultant has been hired to design the lot and prepare the bidding documents. Orinda and Lafayette will each be paying 25% of the construction cost, as a result of an agreement that the three communities signed when the Lamorinda Skatepark was built at the Commons in 2003.
"Lafayette joined Orinda and agreed at the end of summer to finance 25% of the construction cost of the project," said Moraga Parks and Recreation Director Jay Ingram, "We wrote a request for proposals last October. MacKay and Somps from Pleasanton was our first choice." The space where cars now park haphazardly along the road will create a 29-space angled parking lot, with safe access into and out of the lot from Moraga Road as well as good pedestrian access from the lot to Moraga Commons and the Skatepark.
"The City of Lafayette has requested an alternative design detail that would increase the sustainability of the parking lot by including permeable pavement or gravel," stated Ingram, "The Town of Moraga's interest is to keep this project within the engineer's estimate for construction of $200,000. The Town would also like this project to consider the most affordable and efficient drainage systems."
The plans and bid documents should be developed between now and the end of March. "MacKay and Somps will work closely with us, as well as the cities of Lafayette and Orinda, during this whole phase," said Ingram. "We hope that the bidding will start in April, leading to a contract for construction in May, and actual construction over the next summer." Ingram does not think that the impact on Moraga Road will be extensive during construction.
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