City Manager: Street, Trail Mess Will Be Fixed

In the wake of construction work on the , the Coastal Trail and several streets have been left in ruin.

The leg of the Coastal Trail that runs between Sharp Park and Reina Del Mar bears a seam down its middle where new asphalt was poured next to old. Half the trail was ripped up when piping was undergrounded by JMB Construction, the contractor in charge of the project, which would allow water treated at the to be used on the . At several points along the trail, gaps between the two strips are wide enough to pose a threat to bikers and walkers.

Deep potholes and shoddy patch jobs have formed on roads near where construction work took place (see photos), causing concern among local residents. 

Ron Mako, a 40-plus year resident of Pacifica, brought the issue up during the public input portion of Monday night's city council meeting.

City Manager Stephen Rhodes assured him that when JMB Construction is finished with construction, city staff will tour the areas impacted by the work and fixes will be made. 

Councilman Jim Vreeland also expressed concern over the disrepair streets and trails have fallen into after the construction. He reiterated that the city must definitely make sure fixes are made before the contractor's work is complete.

Jeff Guillet, who lives in Seaside Drive near Bradford Way, provided the photos in the gallery to the right showing crumbling roads near his home.

"All of us in the neighborhood can’t believe how poor the patch job is," he said in an email. "It’s simply crumbling away less than a week after it was done. The entire road surface is uneven, and it feels and looks like they installed speed bumps. I just hope that the city plans to grade and repave Bradford and the areas worked on by the construction company."

Guillet also believes the dirt hillside next to the Coastal Trail poses a risk of sliding due to the construction.

"The hillside where they dug to place the pipes looks like it will slide into the bike path on the next rain storm," he said. "They need to grade it better and replace the plants."

The project includes installing a new water pump on Gypsy Hill as well as 17,000 ft. of pipelines, most of which will be under city streets. When completed, the pump and pipe system will be able to deliver about 50 million gallons of recycled water annually. 

The project is projected to be completed in November, 2011.