The City of Pismo Beach kicked off an expansive road improvement project on Tuesday.
The first phase of the project involves street and sidewalk improvements on the southern end of the city, including all neighborhoods east of James Way.
“This is the largest paving project ever in the City of Pismo Beach. We are paving approximately one-third of the entire city,” said Mayor Ed Waage.
The multi-million-dollar paving project broke ground on Tuesday afternoon.
Crews are already working in neighborhoods on the southern end of the city.
Improvements include ADA-compliant curb ramps to improve accessibility as well as sidewalk and gutter repairs.
The city will also repave streets and the extent of the work will depend on how bad the damage is.
“You’ll see a lot of the concrete work, you’ll see a lot of construction methods and techniques in order to make sure that we’re putting those dollars where they matter the most,” said Assistant City Manager Jorge Garcia.
The project will eventually shift to other areas of the city, including Mattie Road, Wadsworth Avenue, and Price Street through downtown Pismo.
“The city did have a meeting with all the business owners in Pismo and so we kind of know it’s coming,” said Penny Rodriguez, owner of Penny’s All-American Café.
Downtown businesses are bracing for a project that will disrupt traffic on the busy thoroughfare.
“It’s just about picking a time and sticking to it, and then alerting everyone because it’s gonna affect everybody,” said Rodriguez.
Businesses hope the work will happen during a quieter time of the year, but say that communication and consistency are key.
“We have parking but I think a lot of businesses don’t have a way to get there if they’re paving, so we’re all gonna have to prepare for that,” said Rodriguez.
There is no timeline yet for when street work will begin on Price Street.
The city says it will continue to meet with businesses and residents to give advance notice of any impacts.
“Our commitment is to keep those meetings,” said Garcia. “So this isn’t a ‘you hear from us one time and we walk away’ -- we’re committed to making sure that we’re active.”
The city will post weekly updates to its website showing where work will take place.
The city awarded more than $10 million to the contractor CalPortland.
The two-year project is expected to cost around $14.5 million in total.
