City staff on Monday outlined final design, schedule and funding for the Connecting Lafayette pedestrian-and-bicycle project, which will add a 10-foot asphalt pathway on School Street and a 4–6-foot path on Topper Lane and include stormwater bioretention to meet a water-board treatment mandate.

At a public meeting staff said design work is roughly 65–80% complete and that the project schedule anticipates plans and specifications finished by January, advertising for bids in February, bid openings in March, utility relocations completed in April and construction beginning in April with a projected completion in August. “We started this in 2023…we plan on starting construction in April, and we’ll be completing construction in August,” the project presenter said. During the school year contractor hours would be limited to 9:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m. to reduce disruption at drop-off and pickup.

Staff described engineering and design choices intended to balance safety and neighborhood impacts: a 10-foot asphalt pathway on School Street with concrete driveway crossings, 2-foot planted bioretention strips that will help treat 1.1 acres of previously untreated runoff as required by the city’s discharge permit, and bollards at full-width ramps to prevent vehicle intrusions onto the path. Utilities that must be relocated include some gas mains and water services; staff said undergrounding was prohibitively expensive.

On Topper Lane, staff said they reduced the originally proposed uniform 10-foot path to narrower widths (4–6 feet in constrained sections) to preserve “signature” trees where possible and realigned the roadway slightly to save a large oak. The project will overlay Topper Lane pavement, reinstall existing speed bumps, add a fog line at the road edge and preserve legal on-street parking where present.

Staff reported $4,600,000 in assembled funding for the project and provided a total cost estimate of $44,364,000, which they described as including a 10% contingency. “We managed to cobble together $4,600,000 for this project,” the presenter told the council, and later summarized the total estimate as “$44,364,000, including a 10% contingency”. Council members asked clarifying questions about the contingency calculation and what would happen to any unspent funds; staff said some development-fee revenue could remain with the city but other grants (Measure J, OBAG, federal earmarks) would likely need to be returned if unused. Staff pledged to return with final bid information after bids are opened.

Public comment included parents and students who urged support for safer routes to school. Brian Parsons, representing Vibrant Lafayette, said the group “supports this 100% as designed” and emphasized benefits for families who expect children to walk and bike to Lafayette Elementary and Stanley Middle School. Seven-year-old Hunter, who rode his bike to speak, told council that existing white posts “are pretty weak” and that planted barriers and sturdier protection would make him feel safer on the trail.

Topper Lane residents acknowledged staff efforts to compromise but raised concerns about tree loss and other tradeoffs. Gary Riske thanked staff for adjustments that avoided a “10-foot highway” down Topper Lane but said the result still involved losing trees. Scott Ellis of 821 Topper Lane called the expected tree removals “a travesty” and said he believed the number would be around 50 established trees; he asked staff to explore additional preservation options and suggested adding a speed bump after pavement is replaced.

Council members and staff agreed to continue working with residents on tree-preservation possibilities where feasible and to return with firm construction bids and a staff report before final contract award. The council requested no immediate action; staff will return to the council after bid opening with final cost and award recommendations.

Provenance: The presentation and questions portion of the meeting appears in the transcript beginning at SEG 1218 (project intro) and continuing through SEG 2121, including public comment on the project.