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ST0003-CS080801 (2) Page 1 of 1 Ken Griffin - Coppell Road From:Ken Griffin     To:Cesar Moncada     Date:8/1/2008 4:28 PM     Subject:Coppell Road     CC:Clay Phillips;  Keith Marvin;  Rhonda Adloo     Attachments:Verizon timeline.doc       Mr. Moncada   Thank you for taking the time to speak with Clay Phillips, Deputy City Manager, concerning some issues the city has had on Coppell Road.  I've attached a time line that goes into greater detail.  We fully understand that there is little that can happen on Coppell Road at this time that will impact the current relocations.  However, the city is very appreciative of the recent efforts by Verizon to expedite some of the critical conduit placements and splicing.   Our goal is to try to determine how best to work with Verizon so that some of the issues we have experienced on Coppell Road do not resurface on future projects.  We have several projects in the late stages of design (Southwestern Blvd, Bethel Road and South Coppell Road) that should go to construction later this year.  If there is anything we can do or provide that would help expedite Verizon relocations on those projects, please let us know.   Again, thank you for your time and any help or insight you can provide.     Ken Griffin, P. E. Director of Engineering & Public Works 972-304-3686 kgriffin@ci.coppell.tx.us file://C:\Documents and Settings\radloo\Local Settings\Temp\XPgrpwise\489339A9City_...12/31/2009 ST 00-03 Coppell Road (Cooper Lane to Sandy Lake Road) 10/21/2004 1) 60% plans provided to utility companies during quarterly utility coordination meeting; 2) One parcel of ROW not yet acquired; rd 3) Estimated construction to start 3 quarter 2005. Note: Plans provided so utility companies can review and provide information back to City on location of existing utilities so the plans can be revised to show them or plans revised to miss them. 08/23/05 1) Project timelines discussed during Utility Coordination Meeting; 2) One parcel of ROW not yet acquired; rd 3) Estimated construction to start 3 quarter 2006. 03/07/06 1) Project timelines discussed during Utility Coordination Meeting; 2) One Parcel of ROW not yet acquired; rd 3) Estimated construction to start 3 quarter 2006. 08/14/07 1) Project timelines discussed during Utility Coordination Meeting; 2) All ROW acquired; 3) 95% plans distributed; Note: These plans reflect any feedback we received from the utility companies and should show exactly where there are conflicts that remain that need to be resolved. 4) Estimated construction to start 1st quarter 2008. Note: Because Verizon did not attend this meeting, a letter was sent to Trinidad Aguirre with the agenda & attachments. 01/24/08 1) Project timelines discussed during Utility Coordination Meeting. 2) All ROW acquired; 3) 100% signed, sealed plans distributed. These are the final plans that will be put out to bid. Any conflicts should be resolved before construction starts. Note: Utility companies were notified at the meeting that the design was complete and we would advertize for bids in February and award a contract at the March 26, 2008 City Council Meeting. Because the project was adjacent to an elementary school, it was noted that construction would actually begin in mid to late May or early June. We needed to meet this schedule to take advantage of the summer break from school. There were about 3 to 4 months of time built in for utility companies to relocate their utilities. Verizon indicated that their relocations were in design, and that construction would take three months, and they would be clear by the time we needed to start. 03/13/08 Project timelines discussed during Utility Coordination Meeting. Note: This meeting was critical because we had opened bids on March 6, 2008 so there was no more guessing if we were going to actually start the project. . The utility companies were told that we were going to award the contract at the April 8, 2008 City Council meeting. It was also noted that the contractor would be released to begin work on the project near the end of May. Again, this timeline still provided about 2 ½ months for utility companies to relocate. 3/28/08 Met with Olen Steele to discuss Verizon relocation designs. Proposed relocations appeared to disregard the improvements shown in the construction plans, as most of the proposed relocations were shown to be in conflict with much of the proposed drainage and utilities shown on the 100% city plans. Mr. Steele noted that should not be a problem as the person relocating Verizon utilities would make adjustments in the field if they encountered any conflicts. It was explained that approach would not work because our improvements were not in the ground yet so the Verizon contractor would not encounter them. If Verizon relocated as proposed, then, at a minimum, most of the relocations would need to be relocated again once we started placing our improvements or they might be damaged. Permit was returned with comments. 4/22/08 Revised permit turned in to city. 4/28/08 Contact was made with John Pyles, designer, and permit was returned with comments and conflicts to resolve. Again, the plans turned in were in conflict with our proposed improvements. At this point, an offer was made to work with the designer if they were having difficulty reading our construction plans. 6/2/08 City contractor begins work on project. 06/10/08 1) Project timelines discussed during Utility Coordination Meeting; 2) Atmos Gas and Oncor Electric were permitted and in the process of relocations; 3) Verizon had yet to resubmit a corrected permit for approval. During the first few weeks of work, the city contractor experienced difficulties with Verizon line locates. The contractor expended time potholing lines that were marked but were not found and on 2 occasions cut Verizon lines that had been incorrectly marked. In one instance the line locate was as much as 20 feet from the actual location. In another instance, the locator indicated there was no line crossing the contractors work area from a Verizon hand hole, when in fact there was a line that was cut by the contractor. 6/18/08 City met with Rick Trevino, Mid-America, and Olen Steel to discuss coordination of work on Project. 6/19/08 Verizon permit for relocations on Coppell Road submitted and approved. 6/26/08 City and Verizon begin weekly coordination meetings on Coppell Road. 7/24/08 At coordination meeting, Verizon indicates they may have a conflict with another line. They also indicate that the splicers have approximately 500 man-hours worth of work to do before old conflicting lines can be removed. It was noted that the city contractor will be at a point within the next 3-5 weeks that the existing Verizon lines will be in direct conflict with the roadway excavation. Shutting or slowing down a project that has been turned to one way and is in front of a school that will open shortly is not an acceptable option when there has been ample time for relocations to be completed. 7/31/08 During the coordination meeting, it was noted that the conduit placing crew will be complete by the end of August and then the splicing crew will need 4-6 weeks to complete the splicing. The city requested that the conduit placers complete work that is in direct conflict with the roadway excavation first. We also requested that the splicers begin tying in those cables while the conduit placers are completing the other work.