By Katie Niekerk and Serdar Tumgoren – Staff Writers
Gilroy
– Three intersections on Santa Teresa Boulevard will undergo
construction work in the coming month as part of the city’s efforts
to widen the traffic artery, according to a city advisory
notice.
By Katie Niekerk and Serdar Tumgoren – Staff Writers
Gilroy – Three intersections on Santa Teresa Boulevard will undergo construction work in the coming month as part of the city’s efforts to widen the traffic artery, according to a city advisory notice.
Traffic control is already in place at the Longmeadow Road intersection and will continue through Dec. 10. The city will close down the Welburn Avenue intersection on the west side of Santa Teresa starting Mon., Nov. 29. Construction will force a month-long closure of El Dorado Drive, also on the west side of Santa Teresa, starting Mon., Dec. 6.
Work to widen the thoroughfare from two lanes to four between First Street and Longmeadow Drive started several months ago with construction on the road’s new soundwalls. Eventually, the dust will clear and things will get back to normal. Residents will then be rewarded for their patience with a new and improved Santa Teresa, including new sidewalks and bike lanes, a wider road and a smoother ride.
When street widening is complete on the west side in early 2005, traffic will be shifted to the new pavement and work will begin to widen and construct soundwalls on the road’s east side. Median construction and landscaping will take place next summer, with the project’s scheduled completion in late 2005.
One of the most noticeable changes to the boulevard will be the absence of potholes, thanks to the new layer of pavement.
The project’s total price tag is $7.5 million.
The eventual hope for residents bordering Santa Teresa is that noise of a different kind – the whirring of traffic – won’t be an issue. The new 10-foot soundwalls will be two feet higher than the old ones, although the newly widened boulevard will lie considerably closer to residents’ backyards whose homes back up against it. The raised walls also might impair some residents’ scenic views.
For updated information including schedules, general traffic information and photos, visit www.ci.gilroy.ca.us/engineering/santa_teresa_widening.html.
