San Luis Obispo County officials on Monday announced that the Avila Roundabout Project will be entering its 40-day-long fourth phase on August 18.
“The $13.8 million roundabout project will alleviate weekend traffic congestion," said Aaron Yonker, the supervising engineer in the project delivery division of the county's public works department. "It'll improve access to and from Highway 101, and it will add features such as sidewalks, pedestrian crosswalks, and bike lanes on a shared use path.”
The project will also provide 43 new paved parking spaces, an RTA bus stop, and an Avila-to-Pismo trolley stop. Phase four of the project will be the construction of the interior portion of the roundabout itself.
“We will be closing down Avila Beach Drive at U.S. 101 to allow for that construction to occur," said Yonker.
He says that phase four was originally slated to start in July, but after hearing concerns of community members, they decided to move the project to when school starts its session.
“Once the beach traffic starts to calm down a little bit,” Yonker explained.
For drivers who rely on Avila Beach Drive, Yonker says there will be a detour in place. Commuters can use San Luis Bay Drive and Ontario Road as alternative routes.
Yonker says that businesses will remain open during construction.
Earleen Knaphurst, an employee at Avila Valley Barn, says that she has confidence the road closure won't hurt business.
“I really don’t think it’s going to be that big of a problem," she laughs. "And if they complain, they complain."
Phase four of the project will wrap up on September 26, and ribbon-cutting for the entirety of the roundabout project is slated for January. Details for the project can be found here.
