Construction Zone: City Will Replace Crosswalks in Bird Rock in Early March

Allow a little extra time traveling along La Jolla Boulevard in Bird Rock next month. The city's Public Works Department will commence on a traffic calming and pedestrian safety project at Colima and Midway streets in early March.

The Public Works Department said the scope of work includes relocation of seven streetlights at the two roundabouts, new foundations will be dug and poured, electric service will be extended to the new streetlights and new post at flashing crosswalks will be installed.

The current installations have fallen apart due to improper installation and inferior materials, according to the Public Works Department.

As of Monday afternoon, the Public Works Department could not confirm an official start date for the $47,000 project. It said it would distribute door hangers to neighbors in the area when a start date was selected.

City documents indicate that the project should wrap up by early April.

Public Works said construction will impact Bird Rock in the following ways:

• There is day and night time construction work required to complete this project. 
• Daytime construction activities will consist of work that will not be performed in the roadway, i.e. installing the signs, wire and small pedestrian poles. Daytime work will be performed 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
• Why is night work required? La Jolla Boulevard at these roundabouts is heavily travelled and very busy. The volume of this area’s average daily traffic count is too large to detour traffic during the day. Night work is required for this project from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. to minimize the impacts to residents and businesses. During night-time work, the construction activities that generate noise will be limited to the hours of 9 to 11 p.m.
• Traffic will have to be detoured along the parallel residential streets during the night-time work. The road closures will not begin until 9 p.m. and all traffic control measures will be removed by 5 a.m. 
• It is estimated that it will require approximately one week of night time work at each roundabout to complete the construction.