La Mesa Boulevard is in for a 16-month makeover that’s set to start shortly after Independence Day.
The City Council this week awarded a contract for the $5.8-million project to the same construction firm, Dick Miller Inc., that remade Coast Highway 101 in downtown Solana Beach. That $7-million effort was completed four months ahead of schedule, and residents and government officials in the North County city say they are pleased with the outcome.
The Downtown Village Streetscape Project marks the first time in almost 40 years that any significant improvements are being made to the area. Upgrades include new, more pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, new streetlights, improved landscaping, a new sewer line and new storm drainage facilities.
“The objective of the project is to revitalize and beautify the downtown area, to enhance its sense of place, to improve its status as a destination, and to solidify its identity as La Mesa’s city center,” states the a description of the project on the City Hall website.
To minimize impacts to businesses, the contractor will be required to maintain a 5-foot clear walkway to ensure unencumbered access to shops and restaurants, work on one block at a time, and close only half the street at any given time. Installing the new sewer lines and removing and installing sidewalks will occur at night. And the contractor has been provided with a schedule of downtown events – including the Oktoberfest, Flag Day Parade, Antique Fair and Christmas in the Village – to make sure they can take place with little disruption.
Despite the precautions, city officials are under no illusion about potential disruptions and traffic delays. In Solana Beach, some merchants along the busy Coast Highway 101 thoroughfare went out of business and others barely scraped by after construction led to a significant drop in the number of visitors and a loss of on-street parking. The manager of a Solana Beach yogurt shop, for example, said the entrance to the eatery was blocked, the sidewalk torn up and street parking eliminated. The owner had to lay off two part-time workers and one full-time employee because business had fallen off so much.
The La Mesa effort is being funded through a variety of sources, including gas taxes, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Transnet and city wastewater funds. Some $2 million is coming from a San Diego Association of Governments grant and more than $1 million is coming from the Downtown Parking Fund.
The current effort got underway in 2008 when the City Council authorized spending $300,000 from the Downtown Parking Fund for design and engineering plans for the project. The following year, the council OK’d spending nearly $1 million of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money to fix up the thoroughfare.
"The anticipated start date is right after the Fourth of July," said Gregory Humora, La Mesa's director of public works/city engineer.
