Your drive to the Oceano dunes just got a little clearer. Pier Avenue now has new paint, new asphalt, and designated bike lanes but not everyone is excited about the changes.
Bridgette Vanherweg walks along the beach in Oceano once a week. She said she didn’t notice the new striping, just that the road seemed cleaner than usual.
“I think there were two lanes but they were always covered with sand, so you couldn't really tell," Vanherweg said. "So, once the sand starts coming back, once the beach reopens, it might make a difference.”
Earlier this week, Pier avenue markings were repainted, and striping for new bike lanes added as part of San Luis Obispo County’s Pier Avenue Betterments project. Project manager Kevin Jones said the county spoke with locals to include what they thought were the most pressing issues with the under-maintained roadway.
“There were a lot of community comments," Jones said. "So we incorporated those, and a lot of those had to do with bicycle and pedestrian enhancements.”
Vanherweg said the beach during this time of year is usually crowded and parking hard to find. However, a recent closure has changed that.
“It's kind of a travesty that the the beach is shut down right now for the most part," Vanherweg said. "These local businesses are losing business.”
The $900,000 project started weeks after a court ruling temporarily closed the Oceano Dunes state vehicular recreation area.
Chelsea Nava helps her mom run Pier St. Deli. She said the betterment project could have had better timing.
“We were actually doing really, really good before the pavement and everything," Nava said. "Right when it happened, everything came together and they closed the beach. So it was very sad for us. It was very slow for like what felt like forever. Every day was worse than the previous.”
Nava said it’s been hard to keep up with the bills but she’s happy that the county wants to look out for people’s safety.
“We're just happy that they're finishing up because it did affect us really negatively just because traffic was not coming through here at all," Nava said.
Jones said their work wasn’t directly associated with the ruling that closed the dunes.
“The timing of the project was done in coordination with state parks, but it was independent of the closure," Jones said.
This is just the first phase of the project. Jones said additional funding is needed for the entire project to be completed.
