Plans laid out for half-year construction project
It just wouldn’t be Santa Monica without continuous construction projects in the works.
Next on tap for significant disruption is Main Street — the site where a six-month-long sewer repair project is being planned.
Main Street merchants were invited to a community meeting Monday to hear about the city’s plans to repair sewers severely damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. But only three business representatives showed up. Meanwhile, other Main Street merchants are panicking because they think the construction will have devastating repercussions to their businesses.
To avoid disrupting business along Main Street during the busy summer, work is scheduled to begin in September, said the city’s consultant Vikki Zale. She added that work will cease during the holiday season and resume in January.
Zale said now is the time for business owners to offer suggestions about the project because conditions can be written into the agreement with the contractor, who has not yet been chosen.
“A lot of people don’t show up to these meetings, which is unfortunate,” Zale said. “The city takes these (projects) very seriously.”
Gary Gordon, a Main Street Merchants Association representative, said work will be done at 38 different manholes from Pico Boulevard to the southern city limits.
Gordon, who attended Monday’s meeting, said the city was responsive to some of their suggestions, but merchants are still wary.
“Some people, despite assurances, think it’s going to be crummy,” he said. “It’s going to be difficult.”
Many Main Street merchants were under the impression that construction in their business district was almost complete, since main sewer lines were just replaced and work on Neilson Way was delayed.
Merchants are concerned about how the construction will affect parking, traffic flow along Main Street, aesthetics and dust. But what they are most worried about is how their customers will get to their stores.
“We need to know that Main Street will be open for business,” Gordon said, adding construction can literally put a store out of business. “It can be really detrimental.”
Zale said the city will keep the construction areas to a minimum, possibly by setting up a staging area off of Main Street, as well as making sure customers know where to park by posting the proper signs. The city may even provide free, or discounted parking in a designated lot for Main Street customers during the construction.
Because the work is centralized around one manhole at a time and is mostly underground, the impact should be minimal, Zale said.
For the merchants’ trouble, the city has budgeted $225,000 to put toward improvements to Main Street, which will be discussed on June 20.
She added that if merchants have concerns or suggestions, they should contact her at 1-800-200-8340.
“Obviously they know their street better than we do,” Zale said. “We’re listening to them.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 15, 2002. Read the original PDF.