Woodland Hills plans to rebuild some roads

WOODLAND HILLS — Collapsing prices in asphalt and other road-building materials have Woodland Hills officials thinking about rebuilding city roads.

The City Council agreed Thursday to start rebuilding its main road, Woodland Hills Drive, after reviewing bids ranging from $209,000 to $250,000. It took the lowest bid from Sunroc Corp., which included $179,000 for the roadwork and about $30,000 for engineering. Work could start as early as next week.

"We're behind, so we have to do something major to catch up," Mayor Toby Harding said of the condition of the foothill city's roads.

Prices for road-building materials are half of what they were a year ago, said city engineer Bruce Hall, who urged city leaders to repave several roads.

"(Low) prices are good only for a few more months," he said.

Loafer Road is in such bad shape that unless some work is done, the city won't be able to repair it, Hall said. Instead, the road would need to be cut up and rebuilt. An overlay will buy 10 years on some of the roads, he said.

Taking money from the 2010 budget to get the lower prices "is the first hopeful approach I've heard about," said Councilman Steve Carter.

— Rodger L. Hardy