Snazzy New Sidewalks Will Link to Downtown

Despite claims of an improper bid, the Santa Barbara City Council awarded a $2.8 million contract to install new sidewalks, crosswalks, bulb-outs, street lights, and road improvements, linking the lower west side with the downtown, to Legacy Construction out of Chino. Legacy’s bid was $200,000 lower than its next closest competitor, Granite Construction of Santa Barbara. Among other things, Granite objected that Legacy’s bid failed to include the complete list of the subcontractors involved. City officials backed the Legacy proposal, insisting that any irregularities are minor in nature. With the economy tanking, they noted, more companies are competing for construction projects, and objections like Granite’s are becoming more frequent.