Fairfax is making headway on some of its most troublesome bridges.

The Town Council voted to amend a contract for bridge replacement projects at a meeting on June 4.

The changes involve transferring a contract with Sacramento-based California Infrastructure Consultancy to MGE Engineering, which has offices in Oakland. The vote also authorized an increase in project costs, which are funded primarily by federal grants.

The council voted unanimously to amend the Bridge Preventive Maintenance Program and Creek Road bridge contract by $174,280.

The council also voted 4-0 to increase the cost of the Meadow Way Bridge replacement project by $1 million, bringing it to $2.7 million. Councilmember Frank Egger was recused from the vote because he lives within 500 feet of the project.

The town has several federally funded bridge projects in the works.

The bridges on Meadow Way and Azalea Avenue are structurally unsound and need to be replaced; the Creek Road bridge requires a seismic-safety upgrade; bridges on Canyon Road, Spruce Road and Marin Road — part of the town’s maintenance program — will be repaired as needed.

“On Azalea Avenue, half of the bridge was determined to be structurally deficient,” town consultant Nader Tamannaie said. “The street became one way because of that, so there’s only one lane of traffic on it and it was structurally deficient to the point that it was eligible for replacement.”

In 2013, the town awarded a $339,000 contract to the California Infrastructure Consultancy, which included preliminary engineering, community outreach and environmental and design services for five bridges.

Since then, there have been numerous amendments that expanded the contract’s cost and scope. In 2016, the council awarded another contract to California Infrastructure California Infrastructure Consultancy for the Azalea Avenue bridge replacement project. Council approval included merging the project with the master contract.

Tamannaie founded California Infrastructure Consultancy in 2007. He said he merged the company with MGE in preparation for retirement. He said he will stay on the company until the Meadow Way project is complete, and state and federal environmental review of the other projects are finalized.

While the majority of the work is covered by grants from the Federal Highway Administration through Caltrans, they don’t cover California Environmental Quality Act analysis and some require a local match in funding.

The town will contribute $218,840 toward the Meadow Way project. The project is currently in the right-of-way and utilities phase. Tamannaie said it is unclear when construction will begin because legal work regarding property easements is behind schedule.

Councilmember Barbara Coler urged staff to “put the pedal to the metal” on the Meadow Way project, citing public safety concerns. The bridge near the Cascade Canyon Preserve is old, wooden and single lane.

“I’m tired of sitting here,” Coler said. “We need to get this project done. If that bridge burns, people on the other side die.”

The projects in the maintenance program are undergoing the second round of state environmental public comment. Tamannaie said he envisions construction of the Creek Road bridge will occur in 2027. He projects the Azalea Avenue bridge construction will begin in 2028.

The town will supply $58,154 in funding for the maintenance program and Creek Road bridge project based on the contract changes. The master contract had a running total of $4.1 million, but with the changes will reach $4.4 million. The contract for all the bridge work is capped at $5.1 million.

If the projects aren’t completed, or delayed to the point of being inactive, the town would have to return around $2 million in grant funding it has received so far.