$5.5 million pavement project will improve 50 lane miles along coastal route
By Chad Winthrop
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) began a project last week to preserve 50 lane miles on Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 1/PCH) from the McClure Tunnel in Santa Monica to the Malibu Lagoon Bridge in Los Angeles County, due to the funds from Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017.
“Pacific Coast Highway is one of California’s most beautiful highways that provides access for residents and visitors to enjoy our coast,” said Caltrans Interim Director Bob Franzoia. “These repairs will increase the life of the pavement of PCH and will create a smoother commute for motorists and benefit California’s tourism”
About 160,000 vehicles motorists travel on Pacific Coast Highway through Santa Monica per day to reach their destination.
“This SB 1-funded project will improve the ride for all users of the road, whether you drive on PCH to catch a wave, use it as your commute to work or simply ride your bike to take in the cool breeze,” said Caltrans District 7 John Bulinski. “Extending the pavement life on Pacific Coast Highway will prevent costly maintenance repairs in the future and create an enjoyable ride for motorists and cyclists.”
This $5.5 million pavement preservation project has been awarded to Pavement Coatings Co. of Jurupa Valley, CA, who will be repairing pavement in all four lanes of Pacific Coast Highway and slurry seal the roadways between the McClure Tunnel in the city of Santa Monica to the Malibu Lagoon Bridge in the city of Malibu. Work is scheduled to begin July 22, and take place during the night, Monday through Friday. It is anticipated that one lane in each direction will be open for traffic throughout the duration of the project.
Motorists are encouraged to plan ahead and use alternate routes.
Work schedule is subject to change due to traffic incidents, weather, availability of equipment and/or materials, and/or construction-related issues. More information and updates on projects can be found at http://www.dot.ca.gov/d7/projects/ or on Twitter via @CaltransDist7.
SB 1 provides an ongoing funding increase of approximately $1.8 billion annually for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the state highway system. SB 1 funds will enable Caltrans to fix more than 17,000 lane miles of pavement, 500 bridges and 55,000 culverts by 2027.
For complete details on SB 1, visit http://www.rebuildingca.ca.gov/.