Jan. 20, 2015
A section of damaged concrete street on lower Girard Avenue (left) and on Coast Boulevard adjacent Scripps Park. Photos by Pat Sherman
Major concrete street replacement on Coast Blvd. to begin Feb. 9
The heavy schedule of street resurfacing, storm drain replacement and utilities undergrounding in the Village of La Jolla is expected to continue for the foreseeable future.
Bill Harris, a representative for the City of San Diego Transportation & Storm Water department, said the work includes various, separate repair jobs that have long been in the pipeline, though have recently passed environmental, funding or other bureaucratic hurdles at about the same time.
“It just so happens that we’re running into all of these at once,” Harris said. “The mayor has made a very specific commitment to road repairs … (and the city) has been getting more and more money. It’s not just in La Jolla; we’ve been very active all over town … (but) with La Jolla being such a tight space, (these projects) really do bump into each other.”
Time of the essence for Coast Blvd. work
Harris said Transportation & Storm Water also has bond funding to replace the concrete street along lower Girard Avenue, Coast Boulevard and South Coast Boulevard, though the work must be completed before the end of April.
“It is bond funding that has to be expended in this fiscal year; if we’re not going to be able to expend it on the streets, it will get reallocated,” Harris said. “It essentially means that we have to have that project all but done and buttoned up at the end of April … or there’s no guarantee of when the funding is going to come back and be available.”
The street will be replaced on Coast Boulevard (above La Jolla Cove), from Brockton Villa restaurant to lower Girard Avenue, and on lower Girard (up to Prospect Street) and on South Coast Boulevard between lower Girard and Jenner Street.
For the work on Coast Boulevard and lower Girard, one lane of traffic will remain open at all times, allowing work to start on the opposite side of the street. The work will take approximately two weeks for each side. “There will always be a place for somebody to drive down,” Harris said. “Whether you’re going to be able to park immediately adjacent to the business that you’re interested in, that’s another story.”
On South Coast Boulevard, an entire half of the street will be closed in two, eight-day work phases, with all vehicle access to driveways and street parking in the closed section blocked during that time.
Harris presented the project to the La Jolla Community Planning Association Jan 5. and the Jolla Village Merchants Association (LJVMA) Jan. 14.
LJVMA executive director Sheila Fortune requested that the work not disrupt the upcoming Concours d’Elegance auto show, April 10-12 in Scripps Park, or La Jolla Half Marathon April 6.
The LJVMA board voted to support the work, contingent upon it taking place between its requested seven-week window of Monday, Feb. 9 through Friday, March 27.
Harris later told the La Jolla Light the city would have to confirm these dates with its contractor, though he did not foresee any conflict that would prevent the project from moving forward during that time.
Although the work is slated to take place 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, Harris told La Valencia Hotel’s director of sales and marketing, Rita Moore, he would see if he could get the start time delayed to prevent early morning noise issues for residents and hotel guests.
Although damage to Coast Boulevard is apparent, LJVMA board member Glen Rasmussen asked why South Coast Boulevard was being reconstructed at this time.
Harris told the Light the criteria used to schedule streets for reconstruction include: their condition as assessed using a laser displacement process; a street’s short- and long-term maintenance and resurfacing history, whether it fronts a school, emergency or tourist facility, community input and requests from the mayor or a city council representative.
“This street has been on the top of mayor and council lists for a while,” Harris said. “There are not that many concrete streets in San Diego. They’re typically on the steeper hills or the more highly traveled (streets).”
At Fortune’s request, Harris said he would also put Roslyn Lane on the city’s radar. An alley off Prospect Street and Ivanhoe Avenue where the LJVMA rents office space, Fortune maintained Roslyn is “the worst street in the Village.”