What is happening to First Street? Why doesn’t the city take care of this major road? It is literally crumbling to pieces. If you pay attention to any of the entry areas to the shopping centers you will see all the pebbles and rocks from the street. This road is the worst road in our city and it seems like there has been little or no effort to maintain it.
On a similar topic, another Red Phone reader writes:
Are there plans to resurface some of the major roadways around town? I travel up and down First Street many times a week. The roadway is beyond atrocious. Not to mention the intersections leading from Monterey Rd to Santa Teresa are also in dire need of replacement not patchwork. These roads are traveled by many out-of-towners and reflect the city. Hopefully, repairs are on the way this summer.
First Street is actually Route 152, and, technically, responsibility for its maintenance is Caltrans’. But, here is the bug in the ointment. Gilroy has an ongoing project to install a 24-inch water main in a trench that goes from Monterey Street to Santa Teresa Boulevard. This will definitely benefit the residents of Gilroy, in Red Phone’s opinion. The design is about 90 percent complete, according to David Stubchaer of the Gilroy Public Works Department. Stubchaer said, “The multi-million dollar project will take about a year to complete, starting in July 2015.”
Stubchaer said that Gilroy will seal the trench with asphalt, but it is up to Caltrans to determine what will be done with the existing pavement. Ideally, the street would be ground down and overlaid with 0.2 feet of new asphalt.
According to Gilroy Traffic Engineer, Henry Servin, there may be a sharing of the cost between Caltrans and Gilroy to overlay the street with fresh asphalt. “Bike lanes will be maintained”, added Servin.
“Gilroy is working with Caltrans,” said Stubchaer. So, good callers, first the water main gets installed, then, if we are lucky, the road is treated with new asphalt—hopefully sooner rather than later!
What is happening to First Street? Why doesn’t the city take care of this major road? It is literally crumbling to pieces. If you pay attention to any of the entry areas to the shopping centers you will see all the pebbles and rocks from the street. This road is the worst road in our city and it seems like there has been little or no effort to maintain it.
On a similar topic, another Red Phone reader writes:
Are there plans to resurface some of the major roadways around town? I travel up and down First Street many times a week. The roadway is beyond atrocious. Not to mention the intersections leading from Monterey Rd to Santa Teresa are also in dire need of replacement not patchwork. These roads are traveled by many out-of-towners and reflect the city. Hopefully, repairs are on the way this summer.
