Officials say work is done, but crews will remain in the area
for maintenance issues
n By Brian Babcock
Staff Writer
Gilroy – If all goes according to plan all lanes of Santa Teresa Boulevard will be open for traffic by today, city officials said Thursday.
According to City Transportation Engineer Don Dey, the construction workers were doing the final striping on the west side of the road Thursday. He said the next step is for crews to remove the orange cones and construction signs.
The work has seen its share of problems. The city ordered Granite Construction to halt work in Oct. 2005 after discovering the formation of tire ruts in freshly paved southbound lanes, a sign of early deterioration that both sides agreed stemmed from water penetration. After that, a long line of orange traffic cones restricted southbound drivers to a single lane along the boulevard, as city and Granite experts crafted a repair plan.
Dey did warn that residents will still be noticing construction crews working on the road, but said it will be more of a maintenance issue. Dey said the crew will be working off of a “punch card,” which means if city officials notice anything that needs repair the construction crew will be called out to fix it.
Dey said the construction crew will most likely be out there until late August. But Dey did give some good news.
“We will be open for the Garlic Festival,” he said.
