SAN FRANCISCO - The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)‘s Bay Area Toll Authority Oversight Committee today authorized the award of a $27.2 million contract to O.C. Jones and Sons Inc. of Berkeley, Calif., to construct both a third eastbound lane on Interstate 580 from the Sir Francis Drake Blvd. on-ramp in Marin County to the Richmond Parkway/ Point Richmond exit in Contra Costa and a barrier-separated bicycle/pedestrian adjacent to westbound Interstate 580 from the Tewksbury Avenue/Standard Avenue intersection in Point Richmond to Stenmark Drive near Point Molate. The committee also approved a $5.6 million contingency fund to cover any changes in the work that may be necessary. Approval of the contract with Berkeley, Calif.-based O.C. Jones and Sons clears the way for construction to begin by the end of November. The third travel lane on eastbound Interstate 580 is slated for completion within 200 working days of the start of construction. Two future contracts will be required to extend the bicycle/pedestrian path across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and to complete connections to existing Bay Trail segments on the Marin County side of the bridge. MTC has budgeted a total of $73.6 million for the three Interstate 580 Access Improvement Projects. MTC is the regional transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.